A New Team (Done Right)
by iamgoku
Summary: It's been little over a year since the Civil War and the betrayal and abandonment of his former 'Team'. Yet Tony has risen from the ashes once again, with a new team full of people he can call his friends, and even his family with things looking up for the first time in a long time... And then The Rogues get pardoned. (Team Iron Man. Not Steve friendly)
1. Prologue

**Hello :)**

**I have been on a bit of a posting spree lately. **

**This story is one I've had up on Archive of our Own for a few months now, and am finally getting around to crossposting it here. **

**BE WARNED! This is a 'Team Iron Man' story, meaning it's not for fans of Steve Rogers or most of his crew.**

**Clint and Scott however will get a redemption arc, and Bucky is not held in the same regard as Steve (due to his brainwashing) though that's not to say he won't also have to face concequences for his actions during Civil War.**

* * *

**I put this in the 'Justice League' crossover category, as it was the most appropriate, but this is actually a crossover with several DC continuities/series. (This is another reason I like A03's story layout, you can add multiple series into the same fic categories)**

**Now, I know that some of the DC continuities I am using don't line up/contradict themselves...just try and roll with it. **

**Below are a list of DC continuities and series that appear in this story so far:**

**\- DCEU (Man of Steel, Batman v Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, etc etc)**

**\- Supergirl TV series (and some of the Arrowverse, Legends of Tomorrow, Constantine, Batwoman, etc)**

_**The Clark Kent in this story is Henry Cavill (sorry Tyler Hoechlin) and Amy Adams Lois. **_

**\- DC's Titans live action series**

_**The Bruce Wayne in this story is Ben Affleck, and Alfred is Jeremy Irons. **_

**Other characters and continuities will be mentioned later.**

**Peter Parker is also female in this story, Penelope 'Penny Parker', there is also a change to Vision (which happens post civil war) but I won't spoil it. It wil be in chapter 6-7 that you see that. **

**I hope you all enjoy :D**

* * *

The smell of freshly brewed coffee filled the kitchen area as the three adults all congregated there, having just finished some early morning training exercises.

Jessica Jones was the first to claim the coffee pot and gave herself a generous portion before passing it to Luke.

Danny meanwhile poured himself some tea before sitting down with a bowl of cereal.

Luke went to the fridge and grabbed some eggs when a fourth person appeared.

Shuffling into the kitchen still clad in her pyjamas and accompanying bed head was Penelope Parker.

"Morning Penny" Luke said as Penny made a small grunt of acknowledgment, still obviously not fully awake.

"You want an omelette?"

The still half asleep teen shook her head as she moved over to the cupboard, her still movements made her look like a zombie as she retrieved a box of cereal to pour into her own bowl.

She was stopped however from grabbing any coffee by Jessica who moved the pot away from the brunette, which got a smile whine in response.

"Don't give me that, just eat your cereal and grab some tea if you want, we've all seen what your like when your caffeinated and it's way too early in the morning for that" the older woman said as Penny grumbled but did in the end grab a cup and pour herself some tea, adding some honey before sitting up next to Jessica.

It was a Saturday and Penny had stayed over the night before to work on some projects with Tony, as well as some minor upgrades on her web shooters.

May was out of town for the week, so Penny was staying with Tony for the duration of her absence, which wasn't anything new as the teen would stay over most weekends, or even on the rare school night.

Danny excused himself as he went off to shower which would be followed up by his tai-chi practice, leaving the others to sit in pleasant silence.

This went on for a few minutes before Tony sauntered into the kitchen and from the looks of it he hadn't gotten much sleep, if any at all the previous night, this was only due to his clothes disheveled state and the grease stains.

His tendency for pulling all night lab sessions had given the billionaire a well-developed tolerance for lack of sleep.

"Morning kid" he said giving Penny a quick pat on the back as he passed. "And assorted others, how are we all on this fine morning"

"Peachy" Jessica snarked back, though everyone knew there was no heat behind the remark.

"Is Matthias joining us today or what?" Tony asked.

It was Luke who answered, looking up as he was transferring his omelette onto a plate.

"Matt's got a case he's preparing for on Tuesday, he said he'd try and stop in, but he's going to be pretty busy"

Tony gave a nod. "Especially when coupled with his night time activities" he said as he went to start a fresh pot of coffee.

As he waited for the coffee to brew he sat down between Jessica and Penny, flipping through a tablet over the designs he'd been working on in his lab previously, before Penny's voice piped up.

"Hey Mr Stark, I was just wondering if it was OK if Ned and MJ came over Monday after school, we were going to work on some Academic Decathlon drills"

"And binge watch Star Wars for the hundredth time" Jessica chimed in with a knowing smirk.

"That's fine kid, I can come pick you up after school, or if I'm busy I can send Happy"

"Thanks Mr Stark" Penny said gratefully before turning to Jessica. "And there's always room for more in the Star Wars marathon if you're interested"

Jessica gave a light snort into her coffee cup.

"Looks like the galaxy will have to somehow make due with Obi-Wan and without the heroics of Jessica Jones" Luke said teasingly as Jessica merely rolled his eyes.

"Why don't you give bird boy a call, he and the Justice League kiddy club are coming by tomorrow"

"The Titans are coming!? Sweet, they haven't been by in like a month" Penny said excitedly.

"Just what this place needs, more young people" Tony said with a mock weariness as Penny merely laughed and went to get more cereal, her radioactive spider metabolism at work as she poured herself a second bowl.

"So Luke how's the fundraising going for the new youth centre" Tony asked as Luke was seated opposite him working through the omelette.

"It's going well, we've managed to get more than enough donors on board, including a rather generous one who wanted to remain anonymous" Luke said looking at Tony knowingly.

Luke had been approached by the director of one of the old Youth Centre's that had been going through some tough times for a number of years, hoping to get his help in their efforts to raise money for repairs.

The ensuing campaign had raised not just enough for the centre to be complete refurbished, but enough for new staff to be hired and new outreach programs to be implemented.

There were even plans for a second location to be opened up when the proper zoning had been completed.

"Yeah well, there are a lot of generous people out there"

Tony knew Luke wouldn't ask for the money outright even though he knew it was mere pocket change for the billionaire, it was the same with him and Danny.

Luke also believed that getting the community members involved in the fundraising and attracting donors was better for the overall sense of accomplishment for those involved, rather than just asking for his rich friend's to pay for it outright.

Which is why Tony made his donation after the target goal had been reached, he admired Luke's dedication and drive. And the fact that he didn't ask Tony for his money was another reason Tony donated it, he respected Luke and his principals and the fact the man didn't wish to take advantage of him.

But Tony Stark always liked to throw cash around when it came to his friends and loved ones, it may have stemmed from a childhood need for acceptance, but as he grew it was his way of making sure that the people he cared about weren't in need of anything, and that he could help them not struggle.

At least this time it was different, he wasn't trying to win them over or desperately try and hold onto them in fear of abandonment or because-

Tony stopped, not letting his thoughts go down that path as he shook his head lightly trying to change his train of thought.

"Friday, be a dear and-" Tony began only to be cut off.

"Tony"

The three turned to see Rhodey enter the room holding a phone to his ear, Diana was at his side dressed in comfortable civilian garb.

The looks on both their faces instantly made Tony on edge.

"What is it?" he asked hesitantly.

* * *

**Gotham**

Bruce Wayne had just finished showering after his morning workout and was about to head out when Alfred's voice caught his attention.

"Telephone for you, sir" he said. "It's Ms Prince"

"What does she want, is it an emergency?"

"I think it best she relay the information to you personally" he said as Bruce followed him to the phone, picking it up and answering.

Bruce stayed silent as he listened to Diana's words, his expression slowly growing angered as his grip on the receiver tightened.

"Yeah….Ok, I'll be there. If you need me before tomorrow just call and I'll be there straight away….bye"

Bruce put the receiver down and ran a hand through his hair before looking at Alfred.

"The Government is considering pardoning The Rogues"

"Yes, Ms Prince let me know" the older man said, his expression grim. "This doesn't bode well"

Bruce silently agreed.

* * *

**So, there's the prologue :D**

**I have 7 chapters already written on A03 which will be crossposted soon after this one is up.**

**(The A03 version has embedded pics and gifs, which I wish I could do here, but nope. Another feature I wish FF would adapt here. On the reverse, I wish A03 would adapt a PM system, as well as a Doc Manager)  
**


	2. Reactions

**Here's is chapter 2**

* * *

"….What"

Tony's voice was the first to speak up after the word's left Rhodey's mouth.

The other man's expression was one of reluctance as he spoke up.

"I'd heard some chatter for a while now, but none of it seemed credible, just rumors. But I was contacted by Everett Ross this morning, he informed me that there have been motions put forward to have Roger's and the others pardoned in the US"

The room was silent once more as the group took in the information for several moments.

"That's bullshit!"

They turned to Jessica who had slammed her mug down on the counter top, the porcelain cracking and coffee immediately leaking out of it.

Luke was quick to toss her a cloth.

"They can't seriously be considering letting those assholes back in to the country after everything that happened" she continued as she placed the cloth down to soak up the spillage.

Rhodey merely shook his head and sighed. "It's not been approved yet and there's a lot of factors and potential issues both legal and diplomatically to be considered, not to mention legislation that needs to be addressed still, but from what it looks like, it's a very real possibility"

Diana who had been silent till now turned to Tony, her expression softening as she looked at him.

Tony still hadn't said anything, he was looking at Rhodey as if he was silently begging his friend to be playing some cruel joke and was waiting for the punch line that hadn't come yet.

"No…"

The adults turned to see Penny, her long hair draped over her face as she was shaking her head, her body hunched over as she kept repeating herself, moving away from where the group was.

"No No No No!"

"Hey, Penny" Tony said as he broke out of his trance and moved towards her concerned.

"No! This-This can't happen, th-they can't…they can't come back" she said, her voice getting more distressed.

Jessica and Tony both realized the signs of what looked like an oncoming panic attack, and both didn't want to see Penny have to go through that.

"Penny, hey kid come on you have to try and stay calm ok" Jessica said in a softer tone, slowly approaching her.

"You need to breathe"

Penny turned away however, her breathing hitching as she gripped her hair in her hands.

"Penny" Tony said as he reached a hand out to her, placing it on her shoulder lightly as he moved her around to face him.

"It's ok, do you hear me, nothing bad is going to happen to you, and you're going to be fine-"

"THEY HURT YOU!"

The others all were taken back by the sudden outburst as Penny looked up finally, her eyes red and welling with tears.

"They….they hurt you Mr Stark" she said, her voice now quieter and making the young girl sound so much smaller than she was.

"He hurt you" she continued, the tears now falling down her cheeks as her lip quivered as she starred back at the older man, her shoulders shaking lightly as she tried to get her words out.

There was no doubt in any of their minds who she was referring to.

"He was supposed to be your teammate, he was supposed to be your friend!" she exclaimed with as her expression morphed into one of anger, the intensity of it was more akin to rage, a look that was out of place entirely from the normally happy and kind girl they all knew and cared for.

The angered look quickly vanished however as her face devolved into sadness, tears falling more rapidly as she curled her arms around herself.

"He left you there; he left you there to die! In the cold and all alone, he didn't care, he didn't-" she tried to say before her words deteriorated into pained sobs.

Before she could do any more, she felt arms wrap around her and didn't need to look up to see that Tony had taken the moment of respite to pull her into his embrace.

"Shhh, it's ok" he whispered softly as she moved to wrap her own arms around him, gripping onto him like she was afraid he's disappear if she let go.

Tony held the crying teen, rubbing soft circles on her back as her body shook with sobs.

"It's ok sweetheart"

The others watched on silently, not wanting to interrupt the moment.

Jessica looked ready to go hunt down Rogers on her own and tear his head off for making the younger girl cry.

Luke's expression softened, but the grip he held on the counter top had caused the marble to crack and splinter slightly under his fingertips over the sight before him.

Diana and Rhodey were feeling similar emotions.

Rhodey hadn't thought too much of Penny upon their initial meeting, other than disbelief and exasperation towards Tony over bringing a kid to a fight.

Though it hadn't meant to be a fight, they had gone to try and talk thing's out peacefully, Penny had only been brought along as a last resort, and was meant to act as a long range saboteur, webbing up and detaining the Rogues.

But despite his initial feelings towards her, he'd seen the young girl and Tony's interactions since then. Saw the two grow closer and the genuine care and concern they held for each other.

He knew how Tony really felt about her, and vice versa, though it seemed both of them wouldn't admit it out loud, everyone on the Team and who knew them already knew.

Rhodey was grateful for that, he was grateful that Penny had managed to help Tony out of the dark place he'd been in after the so called 'Civil War' as the media had dubbed it.

Even though Penny hadn't been the only one there for Tony at that time, Rhodey didn't doubt the spider powered girl could have done it all on her own, there was something about her.

Tony had seen it.

Diana meanwhile was watching them, her heart aching to see the young girl in such pain, as she like the others had grown fond of Penny and cared for her.

It was also touching how much she cared for Tony, and the sight of the two of them embracing like that reminded Diana of her own youth, though she had never felt a father's embrace, nor for so long even knew she had a father.

The sight before her was the answer to an indescribable yearning she had when she was a child, something she could never seem to identify.

Her feelings quickly shifted to anger however, to the source of Penny's hurting, and Tony's own unspoken worries and fears upon hearing Rhodey's words.

The former Avengers.

Diana had wished she had been there when the division in the 'Team', and she used the words lightly, had happened, either to work as a diplomatic medium in getting the others to see reason or if necessary to help in the ensuing battle.

Though on the former issue, she doubted her words could have done any good. From what she'd learned and observed of Steve Rogers, trying to talk to the man was like speaking to a brick wall, and just as dense.

Meanwhile Tony had managed to calm Penny down at least a little, and brought a hand up to brush the tears away from her cheeks.

"Penny, it's going to be ok"

The adults in the room were not fooled by the comforting tone and calm front he was putting on for Penny, but didn't voice this as he continued.

"This hasn't even happened yet"

"But it will" Penny said looking up at him. "You heard what Mr Rhodes said, it's being organized now!"

Penny backed away from Tony, her arms going back to wrapping around her stomach as her face was awash with worry.

"What if they want to come back here, what if they think they can just come back in and live here? What if.." she began before her eyes glistened once more.

"What if they try and hurt you again, for what happened to them. It was their own fault, but what if they take it out on you"

Before Tony could offer a response, Luke spoke up.

"Because we won't let them"

Penny looked over to him just as Jessica joined in.

"Yeah kid, do you honestly think we'd stand by and let them do anything. Or any of the others, we've got your back" she said the last part to Tony.

"But you can't know it'd be ok, I mean don't get me wrong, you've got really cool powers and everything and I know you'd help, but….but you can't be everywhere at once" Penny said as her eyes shifted back over to Tony.

"Well than I guess we'll just have to have someone with him around the clock than" Jessica said in a lighter tone.

Luke picking up on the idea continued, adding a humorous lilt to his own words.

"Sounds good, but I'm not joining him in the shower, someone else will have to take that watch"

There words seemed to work as Penny's expression picked up slightly as a small smile threatened to appear.

Upon seeing Luke look at her, Jessica crossed her arms.

"No way, no offence Stark but not even you have enough money to make me bathe you, maybe give Fish Boy a call"

Penny couldn't help but let out a giggle which quickly turned into a laugh as she couldn't help herself from laughing at the image her words conjured.

Tony brought Penny into another hug, though this time his hold wasn't as strong as he peeked over to mouth a thank you to Jessica and Luke.

The act brought smiles to both Rhodey and Diana, before the Amazon turned him.

"I'm going to go and call Dick, I don't know if Bruce has contacted him yet, I'd rather he and the others know before arriving" she said.

Rhodey nodded before she exited the room, taking her phone out to make yet another of what was probably going to be many phone calls.

* * *

**San Francisco**

**Titans Tower**

"Ok, all set" Garfield Logan said as he got up off the couch and threw his backpack over one shoulder.

Rachel was leaning against the back of it as the two waited for the other three to join them.

"You two sure you've got everything you want to take with you?" Kory asked as she entered the room.

"Double checked everything" Rachel said.

"So is Donna coming?" she asked.

"No, her work is being shown in a gallery event and so she called to say she won't be able to make it. But Conner is still coming" the dark skinned woman said as they waited for the remaining two to join them.

They didn't have to wait too long as Dick appeared soon after, holding his phone up to his ear.

The look on his face made the others stand up a little straighter.

"….Yeah….No it's fine, we'll see you there" he said slowly before he ended the call, his eyes focused on the same spot for a moment before he pocketed his phone.

"What is it?" Kory asked with concern, placing her hand on his shoulder.

"That was Diana; apparently there are plans for the Rogue Avengers to possibly be pardoned and allowed to return to the US"

The three were silent for several seconds, taking it in before Garfield spoke up.

"Wait seriously? You mean they'd actually just let them come back after everything they did"

Dick crossed his arms and let out a sigh.

"I don't know the particulars, there's nothing set in stone yet, but this is being prepared for, the circumstances surrounding their pardons haven't been properly ironed out. But this seems like it's going to happen, one way or another"

"How can they consider just pardoning them after everything that happened? What are they going to just roll out the welcome wagon for Rogers and his crew?" Garfield asked with exasperation.

"I don't know who would put forward for them to be pardoned, or whom. But I'm going to find out" Dick said seriously.

He had a few ideas, but would wait till conferencing with Diana, Bruce and the others when they met up.

"Ok, I am freshly showered and ready to go" a voice spoke up.

The group turned to see who they had been waiting on.

She was a young woman who looked the same age as Garfield, and had blond hair tied into a ponytail with two bangs framing her face. She had light olive skin and bright blue eyes.

Wearing a pair of black jeans and matching converse, and a long sleeve white shirt under a red long trench coat that went down to her mid calves.

The smile on her face dimmed however upon seeing the looks on her friend's faces.

"Alright, I'm obviously missing something here" she said, her voice holding a British accent, more specifically from around London.

"There are plans by the government to pardon the Rogue Avengers" Dick said simply, preferring to just say it outright.

The blond starred at him for a moment before narrowing her eyes.

"Are you taking the fucking piss!?"

* * *

**And there you have it, chapter 2**

**As I mentioned in chapter 1, The Titans here are from the Live Action series ****but they are older (imagine this is set 5+ years after Titans season 1).**

**For instance, Rachel/Raven is 14 in season 1, but she is 19 here. **

**Also if you're wondering, yes I did use an original character of mine, Abigail Constantine, daughter of John Constantine. Some of you may know I have used this character in other stories set in different continuities here on ,(which aren't connected with this story at all) however this is the first version of the character I have written in a live action setting.**

**Chapter 3 and the rest will be uploaded right after this one.**


	3. Conference and a lunch break

**Chapter 3 :D**

* * *

It had been a few hours since their impromptu breakfast meeting, which had brought everyone's moods down and caused Penny to have a minor panic attack, a fact that hadn't sat well with the adults present.

Tony was now pacing around listening as Rhodey and Diana conversed with Everett Ross over a video call in the conference room.

Jessica was also present, but like Tony, she was mostly listening in, having dropped a few comments here and there before speaking up.

"I don't get it" Jessica said after a few minutes, turning to the large screen where Everett was seen sitting behind a desk.

"How could anyone think this is a good idea? Who's the asshole who thinks bringing back Rogers would be a good idea"

Everett gave a sigh, the latest in several since having begun to video conference before answering.

"It's not just a single person, there are still some people, despite everything that happened, that think Rogers and the others should be allowed to return to the United States. Some of it no doubt due to 'Captain America' hero worship, obviously blinding them to the events that transpired" he began, causing Jessica to role her eyes and scoff.

"There are also still pockets of the American public that took Rogers side in the whole ordeal, and among these groups there is vocal support for him, not to mention condemning of Tony and his side for standing against 'Team Cap'" he said, not needing to use the obvious air quotes around the title.

"Not to mention the fact that he took Maximoff, there's interest in having her back here as well-" Rhodey began.

"Like we need that mind raping bitch back here" Jessica spat out.

Jessica knew Wanda's story, she'd dug up all she could, both on her own and with FRIDAY helping her out.

Usually the thought of human experimentation made her sick to her stomach, given her own forceful experimentation on which gave her the abilities she had, the idea of people being forced into those kinds of experiments would normally make her pissed off.

But she knew that Wanda had volunteered for the procedures which gave her and Pietro their powers, all because they placed the blame for their parent's deaths on Tony's shoulders.

And the fact that it was Hydra made it even worse, Jessica like most other people in America, had learned about Hydra growing up in history class, and the fact that the twins would volunteer to a group that was basically neo-nazis with plans of world domination, was insane.

And then there's the use of her powers to manipulate and mess with people's minds, as well as invading them without permission.

Given her own past and experience with mind manipulation and having it used against her will, it instantly made Jessica hate the younger woman.

"Probably someone interested in replicating her powers" Tony said speaking up for the first time in minutes, getting all eyes turned on him.

"Would that even be possibly?" Diana said frowning.

Tony waved his right hand around slowly as he contemplated it.

"I don't know, without the mind stone itself, which is safely housed with Vision, the chance of fully replicating them in another person is unlikely"

Jessica quietly mouthed a 'thank god for that'.

"I've got no solid intel on any ideas for Maximoff being brought back for that, though it's more likely she, like the other's in Rogers crew, are being sought after for their potential assistance in future conflicts" Everett said though he was shaking his head.

It was no secret he didn't like Rogers or any of the Rogue's, though he would admit he was wrong about his initial thoughts on Barnes, after it was revealed he wasn't responsible for the bombing in Vienna.

He had also been on thin ice with his superiors after it was brought up about his remarks pertaining to Barnes not getting a lawyer.

He hadn't been serious when he'd said it, just meaning to use it to rattle him, but he'd been chewed out later on.

"I personally don't think this is needed, as you've been doing more than stellar work with the New Avengers, and there's a visible improvement over the old team, both structure wise and in the handling of things in the field" Everett added to which Tony could only nod.

"Look, this is all still just preliminary stuff we're talking about here" Rhodey said after a few moments. "Besides, if we can get ahead of this, it's possible we can put some barriers in place so Rogers doesn't think he can just waltz back in so easily"

"Oh no, that's definitely not happening" Everett said shaking his head. "For all the supporters he has, there are also those in positions of power that don't want him back just as much as you do. If it is decided that they will be allowed to come back, you can be sure it won't be a free pass, there will be stipulations and guidelines they'll have to follow"

"Sure, cause that worked out so well last time Rogers was given 'stipulations'" Jessica snorted as she took out a pocket flask and took a sizeable gulp.

Everett couldn't help but let out a short mirthless snort at her words before his phone buzzed in his jacket pocket.

After reaching in and checking it, his gaze turned back to them.

"I'm sorry but I'll have to cut this meeting short, but I'll be sure to get back to you within the next few days"

"Right, I'll try and see what I can find out from my end, we'll talk soon" Rhodey said before the feed cut off.

For several moments, silence filled the room, before Diana spoke, turning to Tony.

"Are you sure you're feeling ok, Tony"

The billionaire merely took a breath before releasing it slowly, bringing his hands up to rake through his hair before he spoke.

"This is all, still a lot to take in. Part of me is still hoping this is all just a dream, a really shitty dream" he said before he resumed his previous pacing.

"He's right though" Tony said turning to the others. "There's people who don't think the New Avengers can cut it, I know I don't bring it up, but I am aware of the loyalists to Rogers who think that without their oh so perfect Captain around running the show, we're five seconds away from failure" Tony said, his tone filled with sarcasm and thinly hidden venom.

"Which is bullshit" Jessica added.

Tony nodded wordlessly before Rhodey cut in.

"I think a part of it could could also have to do with Rogers and the serum, it's no secret that the military has been trying to recreate the Super Solider serum since its success with Rogers, Bruce's work on it, and Ross' tampering with it a few years back which led to the whole Blonksy incident"

"Hard to believe Everett is related to that guy" Tony said with a light scoff.

It was not known to most that Everett Ross was Thaddeus Ross' nephew despite having the same last name, the younger having not wished to use his uncle's military standing in the army in any way to influence his time in the air force.

They had a shaky and uneasy relationship at the best of times, not to mention Everett often siding with his cousin, Betty, when it came to familial arguments.

Thaddeus Ross had since been removed from his position as Secretary of State after several instances were brought to light of him abusing his authority and position, as well as his support of radical additions to the Accords, one of which being a Registration Act, which was shot down almost immediately with help from Tony and his allies.

The New Avengers and their friends and allies actually threw a party in celebration of Ross' 'retirement'.

A memorable moment had been when a drunken Foggy had dragged an equally drunken Matt up for a round of Karaoke and they performed a horribly off key and lyrically inaccurate version of Don't stop believing, which had been made all the more difficult since Matt couldn't read the words on the screen and thus sometimes substituted different lyrics, a fact Foggy had forgotten completely in his inebriated state.

Back to the present, Diana was brought out of her thoughts as a message came through on her phone.

The others were silent as they turned to her as she looked up from the screen.

"Well The Titans are coming today. They were originally going to stop over on their way and arrive tomorrow, but given what's come to light, they're coming sooner"

"Well at least Penny will have some more company closer to her age" Tony said, his mind going back to the sight of the crying teenage girl this morning as he'd wrapped his arms around her.

* * *

"I'm sorry if it's distracting you from your case, I didn't mean to unload all of that on you" Penny said as she walked along the street carrying the plastic bag full of takeout.

Matt Murdock walked beside her at a gentle pace, his cane tapping ahead as he turned to her.

"Penny, it's ok, I would have found out about it anyway, this just gives me more time to think over how to proceed from here, and how I can help"

Penny turned to him with a look of confusion.

"Help like as in a lawyer, or help like-" she began before glancing around as if people were listening to their private conversation. "Daredevil" she whispered.

Matt couldn't help but smile at her actions. "Both"

Penny returned the smile as they made their way back to Nelson and Murdock.

She'd needed some time to herself after the whole mini freak out she'd had this morning, and had gone with Luke and Danny when they said they were catching a ride back into the city.

She'd gone off on her own, and had run into Matt who was out picking up lunch for himself and Foggy while they worked on their case.

Karen, the human not Penny's suit AI, which did lead to some confusion sometimes, had also taken some time off from her work at the New York Bulletin to help out her friends.

She was doing a coffee run.

As the two walked up the steps of the small law practice, Penny opened the door and let Matt enter first before following him in; it only took a few steps for them to go from the modest lobby to the main office, where they were greeted by an enthusiastic Foggy.

"Great!" Foggy exclaimed as he walked over, slapping a hand on Penny's shoulder. "Just the super powered teen I needed to see and you brought lunch" he said as he took the bag from her and deposited it on the empty secretary desk to his left.

"You wanted to see me?" Penny asked with confusion.

"Yes, you see I need your help, or more specifically I need Spider-Woman's help"

"They're the same person Foggy" Matt said with amusement.

Foggy merely waved the statement off dismissively. "Semantics" he said before ushering Penny over to his office door, which was closed. "Now, I have a huge spider in there that has seemingly made it its mission to prevent me from working by perching itself right on top of my filing cabinet, so I need you to go in there and kindly tell it to vacate my office, so that I may go back to being the awesome champion of law and order that I am"

Matt and Penny were silent for several seconds as Penny turned to look at Foggy with bewilderment.

"Foggy…" Matt began before Penny spoke up.

"Um, Mr Nelson, I-I can't talk to spiders"

It was now Foggy's turn to look at her with wide eyed confusion.

"What!? What do you mean, of course you can, you're Spider-Woman, it's in the name!"

"Well….it's just not one of my powers, I can't communicate with them" she said shrugging, not sure what else to add.

Matt meanwhile had a smile on his face as he spoke up. "Foggy has it in his head that every hero named after an animal, insect or creature must be able to communicate with their namesake. Ever since he read an article online a few weeks ago about a girl running around central park who could apparently talk to squirrels"

Foggy turned around to Matt instantly pointing at him. "Hey! That was true thank you very much, there was footage and everything, and it's not just her, what about Aquaman, or that Lang guy from the fight in Germany, we found out he could talk to Ants"

Penny found Foggy's arms latch onto her shoulders lightly as he shook her jokingly. "So why! Why can't you talk to your arachnid brethren?"

"I just can't…sorry" Penny said while suppressing a grin.

"Is he still going on about that spider" a voice spoke up from the doorway behind them.

Turning, Penny saw Karen Page standing there with her arms full with a cardboard tray of several Styrofoam cups and a bag of what smelled like freshly baked pastries.

"It's still in their Karen! Terrorizing me!"

"Oh for god's sake, I'll do it!" Karen proclaimed before she walked over and placed the coffees down with the bag before grabbing a newspaper and rolling it up before marching over to the closed office door.

Penny couldn't help but let out a laugh at the look on Foggy's face when Karen walked back out, declaring she'd shooed the spider out of the open window, before they all sat down for lunch, Penny having been invited to join them.

It helped her forget about all the anxiety and worry that had built up this morning.

At least for a little bit.

* * *

The Titans had landed the T-Ship, which was their craft used for long range aerial travel, in a small park that had been empty at the time, while they stopped off to grab some food at a local diner as well as to stretch their legs.

Dick and Kori had gone to grab lunch, while Rachel and Garfield had gone to use the restroom.

Upon exiting however, she saw Garfield starring across the park to their blond teammate who was pacing back and forth, flexing her hands as small flashes of flame appeared before dissipating, as well as plumes of smoke leaving her mouth in rapid succession from the cigar the young woman was puffing on heavily.

"Abigail's not happy" Garfield said at the sight, Rachel looked on with a worried but understanding expression.

"I'll talk to her" she said as he nodded, before she began making her way across the park.

She knew the news of the Rogue's had gotten to her, it wasn't a secret about Abigail's feelings regarding Steve Rogers, and Raven didn't need to even look at the other girl's body language to suspect that.

Rachel could feel Abigail's emotions rolling off her, her girlfriend was pissed, and it wasn't a secret to the Titans as to why.

The British Titan had never really had much interest in Steve Rogers, despite having grown up around stories of the man, stories handed down personally from her great grandmother.

But it wasn't till his return to modern day society that her disinterest had turned to angered contempt, when he'd made himself a thorn in the side of her extended family.

When he'd continued to disrespect the wishes of her family, and had through his actions caused her great grandmother even more pain.

In the end, Peggy Carter had died, and her great granddaughter blamed him for it.

* * *

**Bit of an explanation, in this story, I made John Constantine Peggy Carter's grandson (his mother, Mary, in this story being one of Peggy's daughters) **


	4. Favorite Hogwarts Reject

**Tony allows himself a brief moment's reprieve, and revisits some more happy memories from his past.**

* * *

Tony had spent the past hour going over holographic schematics of his latest armour upgrades in a desperate attempt to distract himself from the reality going on around him.

Penny had the same idea as she'd told him she needed some air and gone off to visit Matt and co, and Tony had secluded himself away in the lab almost immediately afterwards.

He knew this would only be a temporary fix however as no doubt Jones or one of the others would no doubt come dragging him out of his self-imposed isolation due to some inane need to make sure he was ok.

"Ok, now just need to double check the thrusters one more time" he muttered to himself, once again going over the hologram as he enlarged and separated the inner workings of the device, despite knowing for a fact it was working properly.

However before he could do anymore, FRIDAY's voice filled the room, causing him to look up.** "Incoming call boss"** the Irish accented AI chimed out as Tony let out a small huff before replying.

"Well baby girl I am a bit busy if you hadn't noticed."

**"Noticed you distracting yourself do you mean?"** she asked rhetorically.

Tony swivelled around on the stool he was on and gave the ceiling a wry look.

"You have become far too sassy for your own good baby girl, I might have to ground you, teach you some manners"

**"I take after my dad in that respect, and I doubt the compound or the Tower could function properly without me"**

Tony made a show of pretending to agonize over the decisions before waving it off with a lazy gesture.

"Fine, fine you have been pardoned this one time I guess, now whose trying to get hold of me, it's not Ross again is it? Cause I don't know if I can take another phone call from that guy today, he might be better than ol'Thunderbolt but still seems to always be carrying bad news"

**"No boss, it isn't Agent Ross, though I do believe you shall be hearing from him soon unfortunately, the call is coming from John Constantine"**

Tony once again looked up at the ceiling before nodding. "Patch him through"

A second passed before a male voice came through the speakers.

"Hello mate"

"John, my favourite Hogwarts reject " Tony said as he got up and walked over to a bench where he had a half empty mug of coffee, picking it up and taking a sip before continuing.

He could hear John scoff on the other end of the line before he continued. "And how are things, haven't seen you for six months"

"Yes well I've been busy, plenty of demons needing a good kick up the arse, among other things. I just wanted to call and say I'll be coming your way soon, might stop by for a drink or two, hopefully won't have to wind up saving the world again this time"

Tony let out a short snort before speaking up once more.

"Well we can only hope" he said before his expression shifted. "Abby's actual coming by with her friends today….they might be staying for a while"

The line was silent for a few seconds before John's voice replied, now noticeably less jovial.

"Well uh, we'll just have to see how things work out then, eh"

"Yeah, who knows maybe the two of you will be able to work things out without her punching you in the face this time" Tony said in a more snarky tone, trying to lighten the mood.

"Yeah…Yeah, here's hoping for that. Anyway, I'll get off the line and let you get back to whatever tinkering you're up too, and I'll call again at a closer date" John said before the call disconnected.

"Just what I need added onto my overloaded plate, magic daddy issues" Tony said sarcastically before downing the rest of the mug and setting it down.

Moving back to the schematics Tony tried to bury himself back into his work, but found it pointless, the talk with John bringing a wash of memories to the surface.

So instead of going back over the designs one more time, he got up and headed out of the lab.

"FRIDAY, if the others ask just let them know I'm going to go for a drive also see if Penny's ready to be picked up"

**"Sure thing boss, and what car would you like have brought up for you"**

"Surprise me"

**(Flashback)**

**2003**

_Tony was situated near one of the several snack tables set out around the gathering as he dodged two children who ran past in a game of tag, peering over his sunglasses as he saw the main reason for him being here._

_Peggy Carter was seated on a lawn chair as she listened to one of her granddaughter's, a blond woman in her early thirties, discussing something with her._

_It was Peggy's birthday, and most of the Carter family and extended family were in attendance, himself included as her godson. Tony was considered family despite not being blood related, a fact he always felt honoured to be part of, and a little undeserving of._

_Aunt Peggy had always been close to him, and helped him through some of the hardest parts of his life._

_It was saddening to see her getting older, not knowing how many birthdays' she had left._

_Taking a liberal sip of his drink, which was cola because the main party with the children was a non-alcoholic event, booze came later for the adults at a separate more private time, Tony allowed himself to relax._

_"Hi"_

_That was until a small voice caught his attention._

_Looking down he saw a familiar five year old girl with blue eyes, and blond hair tied in a braided pony-tail and wearing overalls and smiling at him, her grin missing a tooth._

_"Well well well, if it isn't little Hermione" he said teasingly before her smile turned to a frown._

_"What's wrong, don't like harry potter? I thought all you British kids were into that" he said offhandedly._

_Her frown only deepened. "Those books are stupid, and the movies, the magic is all wrong"_

_Tony allowed himself a short laugh before speaking up. "I keep forgetting you and your dad believe in all that"_

_The little girl crossed her arms. "Magic is real, just cuz you don't believe in it, doesn't mean it's not true"_

_"How about we continue this little talk in a few years when you understand that what your mom does on stage is just a bunch of tricks and good preparation, and leave it at that, as I am so not getting into an argument with a five year old over this" he said patting her on the head, causing her to frown again at him, which was completely undercut by the fact it looked adorable._

_"Come now sweetheart, no need for that" another voice spoke up, causing Tony to see the girl's father walk up to them._

_"Sorry bout that mate, you take your eyes off her for a second and she disappears" John Constantine said as he looked over and waved over an older girl who looked about fifteen._

_"Sharon luv, why don't you take Abigail over to play with the other kids" he asked the blond teen who nodded with a smile._

_"Sure thing Uncle John" Sharon said as she took the younger girl's hand and led her over to where a group of young kids were playing together._

_"Your sister's already here, she's over with Aunt Peggy" Tony said referring to the blond woman at Peggy's side, John's older sister._

_John took a quick glance before looking around._

_"Her husband's not here is he?"_

_"No apparently he was busy with work and couldn't make it" Tony said causing John to let out a scoff before pulling out a packet of cigarettes from his trench coat's pocket, placing one of the silk cut's into his mouth and lighting it on a match._

_"Good thing too"_

_"Still can't stand him then?" Tony asked rhetorically._

_"Of all the blokes in the world, Cheryl had to marry that git, he's still a right pain in the arse that one, the two of them are always fighting over one thing or another, don't know why she's still with him" John said as he let out a trail of smoke._

_"One of life's many mysteries I guess" Tony said as he glanced over at Cheryl Masters nee Constantine, he'd met her husband only twice at similar gathering's, though not for very long._

_John and Cheryl were both Peggy's grandchildren through their mother, Mary Anne, one of Peggy's daughters who had died giving birth to John._

_As the two stood there silently for a few moments, enjoying the warm summer's day, a woman's voice spoke up and caught there attention._

_"You two seem to be enjoying yourselves"_

_The two turned to see a woman approaching them; she was very beautiful and tall with olive skin and dark black hair, her eyes were a blue green cyan colour._

_She was wearing a light blue open button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up, a black top beneath it which showed off her impressive cleavage, a pair of dark black matching pants and a pair of black boots that went up her mid-calf._

_"Zatanna" Tony greeted. "And here I thought I'd miss out on the delight of seeing you"_

_Zatanna merely smiled as she crossed her arms. "You could always come to one of my shows like you said last time we met up"_

_Tony winced and raised his hands in a surrendering gesture. "I would have last time I was in Vegas, but I was caught up on boring business calls and such"_

_This time the woman let out humoured scoff. "Please Tony, the only thing you were doing the last time you were in Vegas, if I recall correctly was two models and a cocktail waitress"_

_"She was actually a maître d'" Tony corrected causing Zatanna to roll her eyes._

_"Wouldn't do him any good anyway luv, he think's your act is all run of the mill stage magic" John said putting an arm around her._

_Seeing that John and Tony were about to get into yet another long winded tirade, Zatanna changed the subject._

_"I was going to bring Jennifer along, as she enjoyed the last family gathering, but her father had a planned trip to France and he took her along with him"_

_"That trip wouldn't happen to include Disney Land would it?" Tony asked curiously._

_"Sadly no, but I'm sure they'll do some sightseeing along the way"_

_"Poor kid" Tony said finishing off his cola. "I had some good times at more than one Disney Land, though not exactly G rated experiences, let me tell you, once you've had a threesome with Snow White and The Evil Queen, you can't watch that movie the same way ever again. Though I will say the memories more than make up for it"_

_"Well that definitely deserves a toast" John said pulling a flask out of his pocket and offering it to Tony._

_"John" Zatanna said with a warning tone._

_"Don't worry about it Zee, just a little drink, we're not going to get rat arsed or anything" John replied as Tony took a swig out of it._

_"The last time you two had 'just a drink' you both ended up drunk off your asses and I had to pick you two up after Tony bought a whole bar on a whim and you two ended up so drunk you passed out on the floor. And let's not forget that video I have saved of the both of you attempting duets of song's by The Police"_

_"I think we sounded alright" John said defending both of them as he took a swig of his own._

_"The acoustics in that place were surprisingly good" Tony added._

_"Children, the both of you are children, I swear" Zatanna said shaking her head just as everyone began making their way over to Peggy in time for the cutting of the large birthday cake that had been prepared._

**(Flashback end)**

Tony put his phone down after momentarily checking it at an intersection, Penny having texted him while he was driving.

Thinking back on more light hearted memories had helped him take his mind off things, if even for a moment.

The deep rooted feeling of dread he'd been nursing ever since hearing the news about Rogers was still there and he had no doubt it would get worse.

But just for a moment, he allowed himself to relax.

If just for a moment.

* * *

**I picture Zatanna in live action being portrayed by Lana Parrilla (who some of you may know as Regina/The Evil Queen from 'Once Upon a Time' or Dr Eva Zambrano from 'Miami Medical' among other roles. **


	5. Super-Fam

**Chapter 5, we get a short interlude in Smallville, looking in on the Kent Farm.**

**We see Kara Danvers (Melissa Benoist ) and Lena Luthor (Katie Macgrath) and Conner/Superboy (Joshua Orpin), and a minor appearance by Clark Kent (Henry Cavil/Man of Steel version...sorry no Tyler Hoechlin here) and Lois Lane (Amy Adams)**

* * *

**Smallville, Kansas**

The Kent farm was bathed in the warm sun and gentle breeze as Kara Danvers sat on a wooden bench atop the porch clad in loose casual clothing, a pleasant smile on her face.

She was soon joined by another young woman with dark hair, who was holding two mugs and offered her one before taking her place on the bench and leaning into the blonde's shoulder.

"Thanks Lena" she said as she wrapped her free arm around her girlfriend, who gave a hum of appreciation as she sipped her coffee.

"Do you have your bag packed?" Lena asked.

"Yes, even though we have plenty of time"

"Hey, it's better to go over things so you don't forget anything" Lena replied.

"I could always fly back if I did"

"Which would take time away from our relaxing getaway" Lena said playfully nudging her in the arm, causing Kara to roll her eyes lightly.

Kara and Lena both had decided to take two weeks off from their respective jobs and indulge in some R&R, having already spent a few days at the Kent Farm in Smallville, they were now going to join Conner and the other Titans as they travelled to New York to visit Tony and the other's. Both of them deciding that a little time off would do them good, and expressed desires not to be disturbed from this.

The only exception being an emergency warranting their return, in which case Kara and Lena would rush back as fast as possible, and given the blonde's speed that statement was not something to take lightly.

"I just hope I don't end up having to suit up for anything while we're there" Kara said while shifting around so that her arms were around Lena's body, resting her head underneath her chin and making sure not to spill any of her coffee out of her mug onto Lena's shirt.

"Or deal with any dimension hopping Nazi versions of anyone we know" Lena said wryly, causing Kara to let out a groan.

"Don't remind me, two times was enough"

Lena merely snuggled back into the blonde's arms before speaking up once more.

"We'll have some fun once we get settled, we can go out for dinner and I made sure to make a note last time of the places you liked-"

"With the great ice cream, or the pie shops-ooh or the place with the donuts-" Kara began listing of excitedly, causing Lena to let out a chuckle.

"All of them don't worry, and we'll probably wind up seeing some Broadway shows knowing you"

Before Kara could respond, a figure caught her attention as she looked over to see Conner come into sight in the field, the tell-tale sign of Krypto at his side through the shuffling crops.

The dark haired teen smiled at the sight of them as he came back from playing with Krypto.

Thing's had been rough for Conner initially after having escaped from containment with his canine companion, confused and unsure of who or what he was, the Kryptonian hybrid tried piecing together what he could of his origins.

It hadn't helped that he'd been chased by armed personnel who were seeking to recapture him.

But he'd quickly found friends and allies with the Titans, who had helped him and gave him a home. Learning he was the clone of both Superman and Lex Luthor had been a rather troubling experience to say the least, combined with his inexperience dealing with emotions and human interaction did lead to some outbursts and trouble with his powers, but when Clark and Kara had been brought in and the situation explained to them, Conner was given tutoring by them both.

Clark had at first been very awkward and distant with Conner, weary of his origins and the other DNA donor used in his creation, which had made Kara and Lena along with the others smack some sense into the older Kryptonian, who after realizing the effect his behaviour had been having on Conner, and that his concerns were unfounded, apologized and the two bonded more closely.

Kara was delighted and ecstatic at having someone else to teach about Kryptonian customs and heritage, and took on the role of older sister figure to Conner.

Lena also did this, due to their shared DNA Conner was related to her, and could technically be called her younger sibling through Lex's blood.

Conner had thus gained a family, as well as a large extended family, ready to support and help him every step of the way.

* * *

Conner, Kara and Lena were now in the living room, the two women sharing the couch while Conner took an armchair as they discussed plans for their stay in New York. They were joined a few minutes later by Lois, who was dressed after taking a shower, drying her still damp red hair with a towel as she entered the room.

"Have you three seen Clark?"

"He got a phone call a few minutes ago and went outside to take it" Conner replied as he flipped through a magazine.

Lois merely nodded before leaning down on the end of the couch.

"I hope you all have a good time in New York, Clark said you were leaving Krypto here with Martha?"

Conner nodded. "Yeah, he'll keep her company" he said before looking a little embarrassed.

"Besides, I still feel a bit bad for what happened last time I took Krypto with us"

**Flashback**

_Mick Rory let out a relaxed sigh as he sat down in the living room area; the large TV that took up most of the wall was currently playing a football game while he rested a platter of hamburgers in front of him on the coffee table, with a six pack of beer at the side._

_His relaxation was interrupted however by the sound of paw's pattering on the floor, before Krypto came hopping up on the couch next to him._

_It didn't take long for the dog to turn and look at the plate of burgers, his tongue coming out to lick around his muzzle._

_"Don't even think about it!" Mick growled out. "This is people food, not for alien mutts"_

_Krypto gave a growl in response before turning and letting loose a beam of heat vision that went through the wall to their far left, lasting several seconds and cutting clean through the wall._

_Mick starred at the damage before Krypto let out a whine, causing the man to look back at him with a glare for several seconds, engaging in a staring contest with the dog before letting out another growl and grabbing one of the burgers, thrusting it over the table in front of him._

_"There! Happy now!" he exclaimed._

_Krypto merely let out a happy bark before proceeding to dig into the offered burger with great haste, causing Mick to roll his eyes and take a liberal swig of his current beer._

_"You're worse than Super-Barbie"_

**Flashback End**

"From what I understand, Tony has done worse damage during his lab sessions, I wouldn't be too worried" Kara said lightly, before the sound of the front screen door opening to reveal Clark, who had his phone to his ear and a serious expression on his face.

"Yeah, I understand….Ok, I'll see you there" he said before disconnecting the call and looking down for a moment with a sigh.

"What is it?" Lois said softly, making her way to his side.

* * *

"Kara, just take a breath and stop pacing for a moment, please" Lena said as she sat on the bed in the modest but comfortable spare room they'd been using during their stay, Kara on the other hand had been pacing around practically since they'd excused themselves.

"I can't Lena; this is….it's…" Kara tried to form the words as she flexed and curled her fingers in agitation.

"Frustrating" Lena supplied, causing Kara to shake her head as she resumed her pacing.

"I wish we'd left earlier, then we wouldn't have heard anything from Clark" Kara complained.

"Yes, but we'd still find out about this eventually" Lena replied.

"We would have had more time in blissful ignorance" Kara shot back before turning to Lena.

"Aren't you as concerned about this as I am?"

"I am just as concerned, yes. But I'm also trying to think over what we've been told and try and I realize that for the moment, there's not much we can do about it. So I'm not going to work myself up, at least for the moment" Lena rationalized as her girlfriend merely crossed her arms and shook her head once again.

"I just….it makes me so mad Lena, thinking about everything that happened to Tony, how he almost died out there, abandoned by his friends, not to mention all the lies-" Kara began, her words heating up one by one till she suddenly stopped, her expression dropping as her arms seemed to wrap around herself more, her eyes moving to avoid Lena's.

"….Though I'm the last person to talk about lying, especially with you" she said softly, causing Lena to immediately stand up and move over towards her.

"Hey" Lena said as she placed her hands on Kara's shoulders, moving her around to face her head on.

"What happened between us….that was different. Yes, you kept things from me, and yes it hurt me when I found out the truth" Lena said slowly, her eyes misting over slightly as she did, which in turn elicited a similar reaction in Kara.

"But even though I was hurting and I made some foolish and stupid decisions afterwards in my anger, we both found a way back to one another, and you forgave me just as I did you" Lena said, tears now threatening to fall as she still held onto Kara's shoulders tightly.

"You kept your secrets due to them being of a personal nature, and you were afraid for the safety of those close to you, and with me it's because of the relationship we'd made with you as just 'Kara Danvers' and were afraid of ruining that" she continued with a small sniffle, before her watery eyes hardened.

"But Steve Rogers" she began, almost spitting out the name and letting her rational and calm demeanor from earlier dissolve away.

"He lied about something that was so important and so personal to someone he called a 'friend', to keep the truth about Tony's parent's death from him like that, and use his resources and equipment for all that time trying to find the one responsibly, not to bring him in to answer for his crimes, but to try and sweep them under the rug" Luna continued before pausing, taking a moment to breath and wipe away the tears that had fallen.

"And I know that Barnes was under extreme duress and mental manipulation coupled with decades of conditioning, but that does not simply make all those deaths disappear, nor does it erase the years of emotional baggage Tony had to go through, it doesn't mean Barnes shouldn't face the consequences of his actions while also getting the help he deserves"

Looking into Kara's eyes once more, the blonde herself now crying as Lena brought her hand up to gently wipe the tears from her cheeks.

"So don't you dare, don't you even think about comparing yourself to Steve Rogers, because you Kara Danvers Zor-El, are infinitely more kind and loyal, compassionate and amazing, and I love you far too much to see you think you have to stoop down and be put into the same category as him, even if it's you yourself who are thinking these things" she said with steely resolve in her voice.

Lena was about to speak up again when Kara moved closer, capturing her girlfriend's lips with her own and wrapping her arms around her, muffling Lena's soft moans as she moved her back to the bed and they both sat down, almost falling over but maintaining the kiss for several more seconds.

"Lena" Kara said as she took a breath upon releasing her, their eyes both half lidded and filled with such affection and love for the other.

"I…I know that you forgave me, but sometimes I can't help but still get down over everything that happened and-" Kara began before Lena silenced her with a finger on her lips.

"I know Kara, but you don't have to worry. I'll be here to reassure you, every day if need be of just how much I love you, and will never stop loving you" she said softly before continuing.

"You saw so much in me, that I was not just another Luthor, not just another member of a stained cursed family but that I was Lena, you see so much good in the world and inspire it through your actions" she said with a widening smile on her face, tears had begun to form again, though this time out of happiness.

"Lena…" Kara said as she brought a hand up to caress Lena's cheek. "I don't deserve you"

This caused the billionaire to let out a soft laugh. "You deserve the world, Kara. I'm the one who doesn't deserve someone like you"

The two sat in a pleasant silence for several minutes, curling up in each other's arms, before a knock on the bedroom door caused them to disengage and get up.

"Our ride's here" Conner said from behind the door.

"We'll be down in a minute" Kara called out before turning back to Lena who was now over by their bags.

"So, are you ready for this?" she asked.

"This is the easy part, there will be harder trials ahead if or when Rogers and the rest of them return" Lena began before sending Kara a reassuring smile. "But we'll get through it, together"

"Together" Kara echoed, her smile only widening.


	6. Races and Braces

**Chapter 6**

* * *

Penny was currently emptying yet another grocery bag into the pantry and fridge of the compound main kitchen area.

She'd asked Tony if they could stop and get some more food after he'd picked her up from Nelson and Murdock, due to her finding out the Titans were coming over, she wanted to ensure there was plenty of snacks and comfort food.

Especially if some of them were as annoyed and angry as she was, though she had calmed down drastically after spending some time with Matt and the more light-hearted time she'd spent with Tony as the two had gone around filling up two shopping carts full of mostly unhealthy junk food.

She did still feel slightly uncomfortable at times with Tony spending so much money with her, but he'd been the one to insist her grabbing her own cart before he swept an arm through a shelf of potato chips, collecting several bags and telling her to do the same with flavours she liked.

She'd had similar shopping trips with him before when she stayed over at the Compound or Stark Tower, and quickly found herself giggling as she and Tony ended up in a mock race through the aisles grabbing as much stuff as they could fit into their carts, it reminded her of something you'd see on one of those food network shows.

If it had been anyone else she'd been with besides Tony, she knew they would have been asked to leave the store. She was sure they'd almost bowled several people over in their impromptu race.

It was worth it to see Tony's smile when they finally finished however, both of them grinning and enjoying themselves, letting their minds wander from the news they'd both received earlier in the day, at least for a few moments.

"FRIDAY, do you know where Mr Rhodes is? I wanted to see if he wanted to watch a movie later, I thought it'd be a good way to wind down after everything today" Penny asked as Tony was putting the last of the groceries away in the fridge.

**"Colonel Rhodes is currently on call with the London Branch of S.T.A.R. Labs, I could let him know if you like" **FRIDAY'S voice replied.

"Oh no, that's ok I can wait till he's finished" Penny responded before looking over at Tony.

"Do you think it's about his back?"

Tony had by now grabbed a mug and was making himself coffee, leaning on the countertop and giving her a nod.

"Probably, Helen and Marcia have been checking up on Rhodey over the past few months, since the surgery and post op rehab he's been fine, but they won't stop calling him about it, it's kinda sweet in a mother hen type of way"

Tony's words may have come out jovial, but the incident with Rhodey's spine had been harrowing for him, the memory of him holding his friend's motionless body after the fight at the airport still haunted him.

He had initially been wearing the leg braces Tony had made, which were a temporary solution once Helen and Marcia came on board, with a combination of Helen's cradle and Marcia's innovative use of existing and new tech of her own invention, Rhodey had made a full recovery.

His post-surgery rehab had taken three months before he was back to having full feeling and joint mobility, but it had been worth it, he even claimed to be sprier than before the accident.

"So, what movie did you have in mind kid?" Tony said as he turned his attention back to Penny as she began animatedly describing a list of several films she'd narrowed down, nodding along as he sipped his coffee.

* * *

"No, for the millionth time" Rhodey said with a sigh, leaning back in his chair as the computer screen in front of him was currently on video call.

_"Hey, come on you know I have to ask these questions"_ a British accented voice of a young woman replied through the video feed.

Rhodey rolled his eyes lightly as he turned his attention back to her.

The young woman in question was only twenty six years old, but was one of the head researchers of the London Branch of S.T.A.R. Labs, and if rumours were to be believed, she would soon be in charge.

She had long dirty blond hair that framed her face, bright blue eyes behind large round rimmed glasses that were perched atop her nose. She was thin, but not unhealthily so, wearing a white long sleeved button up shirt that had the sleeves rolled up to her shoulders, underneath a buttoned dark red vest and black tie, black jeans with a matching belt and white all-star sneakers.

"Marcia come on, we've been through this every week for the past three months, I'm fine and there's no residual side effects or lingering damage, I'm completely healed"

_"Just because you aren't aware of any side effects, doesn't mean there couldn't be any lingering beneath the surface that have yet to be revealed, not to mention any signs of the surgery and treatments failing"_ the bespectacled young woman said as she paced around her office with an open file in her hand.

"Helen sent you the copy of her notes she made last week, aren't those enough" Rhodey asked as he leaned back in his chair.

_"She is very thorough, and you could say that it is, but for my own peace of mind I have to get the info from you personally. Besides I thought you liked chatting with me"_ she said with a small smirk.

"Yeah, about anything other than my now non-existent injuries, don't get me wrong I am forever grateful to you guys and all, but you can ease up a bit and relax. I'll let you know if there are any issues or relapses" Rhodey said looking her in the eyes.

After a few moments, Marcia let out a sigh and sat down, leaning back on her own chair and propping her shoes up on her desk.

_"I know, but like I said for my own peace of mind I have to keep updated on your condition, it's like an obsessive thing for me. If anything were to happen I'd feel horrible"_ she said before reaching into her desk drawer and pulling out a small brown pouch and retrieved a black straight stemmed briar wood pipe, pulling out a small tin of tobacco before filling the bowl.

"Well don't, honestly even if I wound up in those braces again, the fact that you were able to help me even for a little while has you and Helen in my good books for life, so don't go getting too worried about it" Rhodey said before rolling his eyes at the younger woman as she was lighting her pipe with a match.

"And can you seriously be talking about my health and well-being while smoking"

Marcia gave him a dry look as she replied, exhaling a puff of smoke as she did.

_"Everyone has their vices, besides do you think I don't get stressed out working here, surrounded by a bunch of people so much older than me who think I'm incapable of living up to my station or my degrees. Honestly if I didn't smoke I'd end up stabbing one of these old bastards with a fork in the canteen"_ Marcia said before taking another inhale.

"Seems to be a family thing with you guys, huh" Rhodey said lightly. "By the way, speaking of family, Tony said your Uncle plans to stop by soon"

Marcia paused at this.

_"Oh….that'll go down well"_ she said with sarcasm. _"Hell I haven't spoken to Uncle John in months; he's been keeping himself busy lately"_

Rhodey hadn't seen John in months either, not since the return of the villains from Earth X which had been a serious ordeal.

Marcia was John's niece, the eldest of two children his older sister Cheryl had with her husband Tony Masters. She had been regarded as gifted from a young age, her intellect surpassing those of her own age and quickly having her attending older student's classes.

However when she was 14, she moved in with John and Zatanna, the reason being her coming out as transgender to her parents and the ensuing reaction and abuse she suffered at the hands of her father.

She strove forward however, and by the time she was 22 she had multiple doctorates and PHDs.

Tony had offered her an insanely high paying salary to work at Stark Industries, having known her since she was a baby due to her Carter family relation and respecting and realizing her obvious genius as a fellow prodigy, but she politely declined having already accepted an offer from Silas Stone to work at the London Branch of S.T.A.R. Labs, though she did still occasionally collaborate with Tony on some ideas, the two getting lost in mountains of project notes and hours of technobabble both in person and via video.

_"Anyway I have another call to make, so I'll let you go. Please be sure to give Tony and the others my best and remember you think anything might be wrong or even if you're unsure, let me and Helen know immediately"_ she said sternly.

Rhodey merely let out a light chuckle, nodding before ending the call.

Getting up from his seat, Rhodey took a few seconds to stretch his legs, reminded once more of how lucky he was to have regained full use of them.

"Mr Rhodes?"

Rhodey turned to see Penny with her head through the doorway.

"FRIDAY told me you were done with your call, I was wondering if you'd like to put your vote in for the movie selection? Mr Stark said he'd hold off on his vote till you gave yours"

"Sure thing kid" Rhodey said before he followed her out.

"Oh, and have you heard if Vision is going to be coming back this afternoon?"

* * *

**Gotham City**

Jason Blood currently standing in a sitting room of his Gotham home and holding an ornate vase in his hands, placing it on the fireplace temporarily he surveyed the object carefully, the damage having been completely repaired, though it was a replica and the real one kept in storage so his concern wasn't wasted on it.

He turned around to see the source of his concern however, standing several feet away in the doorway.

"Again, I'm very sorry I didn't mean to break it" the feminine voice said softly.

"Its fine Vision, I'm more worried about you"

Vision looked down slightly, still concerned with having accidentally broken the vase.

Taking in the sight of Vision, one would be surprised at the change in appearance since the often dubbed 'Civil War', which had Vision's previously recognised masculine appearance.

However over the months that followed, Vision had begun to question many things both with others and personal, including their own identity and how they viewed themselves, this lead them down a path of confusion and disarray, and it took some time before they felt comfortable in seeking advice and help in understanding what they were feeling and helping them decide on how to proceed.

In the end, Vision decided on choosing to identify as female, thus changing their base form from a masculine appearance to a feminine one.

Her base form still the same in terms of overall look and colour, with her red and green body, with the addition of her cape when she chose, the form just now looked feminine instead of masculine.

"Why don't you take a seat, I'll make some tea and you can tell me what set you off like that" he said softly, still seeing the look of unease on her face.

Vision nodded before walking over to a lounge chair, golden light flowing over her body and causing her outer appearance to shift, her cape disappearing as her external body took on a more conventional human appearance.

She now had light blond hair that went down past her ears with Caucasian skin tone; her eye colour remained the same. Vision had materialized clothing over her form, consisting of a navy blue loose sweater and blue jeans with black flats.

Reaching up she tucked the left side of her hair behind her ear as she sat down, starring down at the empty fireplace for a few moments as Jason was about to walk to the kitchen when she spoke.

"…Wanda"

"I'm sorry?" Jason said pausing and turning back to her.

Vision looked up at him, staring into his eyes before speaking once more.

"She caused my anxiety attack"

* * *

**Ok, so here we get the Vision reveal I teased in chapter 1.**

** Originally on A03, I also posted a 'what if' sidestory to the main one, where I could post alternate scenes/ideas that didn't fit the main story, one of them I thought of was having Vision be a trans woman.**

**This was an idea I had for the second 'what if' chapter, but when I kept writing the chapter I got really into it and wanted to write more for it, so I decided (since Vision hadn't appeared here yet prior to this chapter ) to add it into the main story.**

**The 'what if' chapter dealing with it was then used as a flashback in the next chapter, showing the aforementioned questioning of her identity and decision on it.**

**Female-Vision I picture as being portrayed by actress Georgina Haig (the A03 version of this fic, again, has embedded pics for a better visual reference)**

**Also the character of 'Marcia' is another OC of mine brought over from my stories 'Young Justice Dark' (Where she is male, and 'Marcus') and 'Life is about to get stranger/the sixth titan' where she is female like here.**

**I picture Marcia in live action as being portrayed by Actress and Voice actress Dayeanne Hutton (who some of you may know from the video game 'Life is Strange' as Kate Marsh)**


	7. Visionairy

**Chapter 7**

**A look back at some of Vision's post-Civil War Journey, and some of Penny's Post-Homecoming aftermath**.

* * *

**3 Months After Civil War**

**San Francisco**

The streets were full of people as the morning hours brought people out into the city, Vision found himself walking through a marketplace that was beginning to open up, the various stalls filled with a diverse range of products as he made his way through them.

His attention remained however on his destination as he continued onward, only momentarily stopping to browse certain stalls and products that caught his attention.

* * *

**Titans Tower**

The main living area of the tower was empty, save for a lone occupant who was in the kitchen area washing the dishes and cleaning utensils in the sink.

"-Used to wonder what friendship could be, till you all shared it's magic with me" Abigail Constantine sang as she rinsed a bowl and placed it in the drying rack.

"When I was young I was too busy to make any friends. Such silliness did not seem worth the effort it expends-"

She was interrupted as the sound of her phone going off in the next room, quickly drying her hands she sprinted over to her phone and answered it.

"Hello….Vision, hey….oh ok, sure thing come right up" she said before disconnecting the call.

A few minutes later, Vision stepped off the elevator to the main living area, his civilian appearance he'd recently been experimenting with shimmered away in a golden light, revealing his normal form, minus the cape which he felt was not needed at the moment.

"Hello" Vision greeted her as he walked over to the kitchen.

"Hey" she greeted back, still over near the sink though not washing anything, instead pouring herself a glass of orange juice.

"If you're here to see Dick, he's gone up north with Kory, they won't be back till tomorrow. And if you're here to see Penny, you might have to wait a few hours, she went to the movies with Garfield and Rachel" Abigail said as she placed the bottle of orange juice back in the fridge.

"You did not wish to go with them?" Vision asked inquisitively, taking a seat behind the countertop as she did the same beside him.

"Oh no way, there's a three day Harry Potter movie marathon, the last three are today" she said, not caring to hide the annoyance in her voice.

"You aren't a fan of the series ?" Vision asked already aware that Penny had a certain affection for it, being one of her 'fandoms', Abigail snorted into the glass at his question.

"Vision, mate I could go on a very long and very detailed rant on the various reasons I hate that novel and film series, but I'm afraid it would take up too much of our time" the British Titan said placing her glass down.

"Conner's visiting Kara and Lena in Central City, so I'm the only one at the tower right now. So, what brings you over this side of the country?"

Vision was silent for a few seconds before turning to her and speaking.

* * *

"And that is the issue at hand" Vision said as he finished wiping one of the plates down with a dish towel as they two had moved over to the sink to finish the chore while they talked.

"I see" Abigail said looking at him with interest.

"This doesn't...make you uncomfortable or displeased with me?" Vision asked with slight apprehension.

Abigail turned to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, a comforting expression on her face.

"Vision, I think you knew I wouldn't judge you or think any less of you, why else would you come to me"

Vision nodded slightly, the concerned expression leaving his features. "You are correct, but there was still a chance I believed you would find it unusual or strange, given my status as a non-human being"

This got a small light hearted scoff from the blond.

"I am close friends with several aliens, a shapeshifter, my girlfriend and older sister are both half demons, and one of my godfather's shares his body with a demon, you're pretty much normal to me mate" she said reassuringly.

"Plus if you want to get technical I'm not 'human human', so you're not going to get judged for your composition in this building"

"Thank you" Vision said after a moment, feeling a sense of relief before the two walked over into the living room.

"Though I must say, you may have considered visiting a different Constantine for this specific issue" she said as they sat down on a couch.

"Not to say I can't help you out, or offer support, I'm always happy to help out people in the LGBTQ+ community, or those questioning themselves in such a manner. I've been there, I've questioned my own personal identity and everything, I think everyone does at some point in there lives, how they choose to deal with it is another matter however" she said before taking a quick gulp, finishing off the glass and placing it down on the glass coffee table in front of them.

"So, you believe I should consult Dr Constantine, I do admit I was hoping to meet with her as well, but wished to see you first, due to your closer proximity." Vision said, getting a nod from the blonde.

"Yeah, I get it. But as you know, Marcia is trans, she's open about it and has gone through a lot, both personally and publically. She's had to go through a lot of shit, but she like me is always ready to help people with similar issues or those in the community, if you go to her for advice or just to help you sort out your thoughts, she will be happy to help you in any way that she can" Abigail assured him before her eyes lit up.

"How about you go see her now? I can take you there"

"Do you wish to fly there? We could do so personally, alternatively if you'd prefer If so I can procure a quinjet or we could take one of the Titans transports" Vision said as they stood up.

"No need mate, just let me get dressed and I'll show you what I mean" She said as she jogged off out of the room out of view.

After she left Vision retrieved her now empty glass and carried it back into the kitchen, washing and rinsing the glass before drying it and returning it to its place.

As he did, he thought back to only a week ago when Penny came to stay at Titans Tower.

**Flashback**

_Tony entered the elevator, Penny and May accompanying him before the doors closed behind them._

_It had been two weeks since the incident with The Vulture, the aftermath between Tony and The Parker's being...interesting._

_May had found out about Penny's secret and had not been happy to say the least, her first thoughts had been that Tony had been responsible, especially as he had constructed the suit, but Penny and Tony both explained the spider bite and Penny's powers._

_This caused May further hurt, knowing that Penny had been hiding such a huge secret from her for that amount of time, and that she'd been running around in a homemade hoodie onesie picking fights with armed criminals, not to mention the injuries._

_What followed was a lot of talking and discussions between the three of them, some of which involved a lot of crying and hugging between Aunt and Niece, as well as May's liberal use of swear words at Tony that she immediately demanded Penny not use._

_In the end, May made peace with the fact that Penny wasn't going to stop doing what she was doing, the incident with Toomes aso proving she wasn't above donning her ' homemade monstrosity' as Tony called it, to do so._

_Thus Tony, May and Penny worked out a system which would be put in place which was supposed to benefit Penny's crime fighting, as well as helping to keep her safe, and lessen the worry and concern May felt._

_Despite her concern and being upset at Penny's actions initially, May couldn't help but feel proud of what her niece was doing._

_Even if the headlines and clips sometimes got her heart rate up to insane amounts._

_However, Tony had spoken with May about an idea that she too came to agree on. Penny needed more training, not just in utilizing her powers, but in other areas._

_Which is what brought them to their current situation as they ascended the floors of Titans Tower._

_"A month or two here will be beneficial for you" Tony said resting a hand on penny's shoulder._

_"You'll learn a lot from them, and the added benefit of working in a team dynamic, an actual team" he continued with an edge to his tone, though both May and Penny knew the reason behind it._

_"The Titans are more like a family, they've got each others backs and would take a hail of bullets for one of their own, and not to mention some of the stuff they've been through you probably wouldn't believe me if I told you, hell I don't believe it half the time" Tony said rolling his eyes slightly, causing Penny to giggle._

_"We'll have a look around and you can make your decision afterwards, ok" May said from Penny's side. "We both think this is good for you, but it's your choice, we're not going to force you"_

_"No need to be nervous," Tony said, noting Penny shifting slightly on her feet._

_"I'm not nervous" she replied, which caused both adults to give her similar looks of disbelief._

_"Ok, maybe a tiny bit nervous and excited at the same time" Penny relented, tugging on the straps of her backpack._

_"I mean the Titans are one of my inspirations"_

_Tony adopted a mock hurt expression, placing a hand on his chest. "And here I thought what we had was special, now I find out you've been idolizing other heroes, why must you hurt me kid"_

_"You're still number one on my list Mr Stark" Penny said rolling her eyes lightly._

_"Good, though I'm still going to have to give them the shovel talk, they're taking care of precious cargo here" he said patting her on the shoulder just as the elevator door opened to the main living room area._

_Stepping out, the trio walked in and were greeted by Vision who had arrived before them, and Koriand'r, also known as Kory Anders or Starfire who was dressed in a pair of long wide black pants, a dark purple short sleeved top, and a pair of strappy sandals._

_"Welcome" Kory said greeting them with a smile. "Hello Penny, it's nice to officially meet you, Tony's told us a lot about you"_

_"Mostly good things" Tony joked._

_"Is she here?" a new voice asked as Penny turned to see a green haired teen a few years older than her walk out, instantly recognising him._

_"You're Beast Boy" Penny said as he walked up to her and the group._

_This got a chuckle from him before he offered her a hand to shake._

_"You can call me Garfield, we're going to be teammates after all, plus code names are only really used in the field around here" he said as Penny shook his hand._

_"Yeah, I guess you're right. I actually follow you already" Penny said, causing several eyes to turn to her._

_"I-I mean I follow you on Twitter… and Youtube, and Tumblr, and your blog and I should really stop talking because I sound like a cyber stalker" Penny cut herself off from rambling, her cheeks flushing red before Garfield let out a chuckle._

_"No no that's fine, nice to know my efforts don't go to waste" he said, having established multiple social media platforms, as well as trying to encourage the other members of the team to do so as well._

_The Titans had a group twitter and social media accounts, as well as some of them having individual ones._

_"I was actually thinking of starting one as well" Penny said which caused Garfield to send her a grin._

_"I could help you set it up, it'll be fun"_

_"And on that note" Kory said interrupting them gently. "How about we start the tour"_

_"Sound's good" Tony said as they began walking through the living room. "Teenagers" he said to Kory with a roll of his eyes._

_"Hey!" Penny and Garfield called out to him._

_Penny was then shown the various rooms and facilities on that floor and the others, she was in a constant mix of excitement and awe._

_They decided to take a break and have some lunch, after which Penny wandered around a bit, coming to a stop at a room full of tall cases aligned against a wall, each one holding gear and outfits of various Titans with their code names written at the bottom._

_Penny walked along the wall looking over the suits, however she paused upon seeing a light shining in the corner of the room on the floor, walking over she saw it was a door that was mostly closed, the slight opening allowing the light to travel through._

_Pushing the door open, Penny saw the the light travelled along the floor illuminating it slightly, reaching to the side she saw a touch pad, which when she pressed it the room lit up completely._

_This room looked similar to the last one, there was even a few cases with outfits in them, though not as many._

_Walking past them she saw the first one was an outfit that had a red long sleeved top which seamlessly connected to a pair of blue pants and dark blue boots, the entire suit had small scale like designs across the entire outfit, gold trim additions were on the pants and top, as well as what Penny thought was an A shaped symbol on the waist._

_Looking below, she saw the name adorning the case._

_**Aqualad**_

_Turning to the suit to it's right, it was a more familiar one, Penny recognised it as an old Robin suit which the name below the case confirmed, it was similar to the one Nightwing used to wear, though from what she could recall, this design looked slightly different._

_However there was another case separate from the others in the corner facing her, it was the most eye catching and was covered in a tinted dark glass preventing her from seeing what was inside._

_Below the case there looked to be the remnants of a name, but it appeared as if someone had taken to it with a hammer or similar tool as the space was cracked and broken with only the first letter which was a ' T' being somewhat visible._

_"What is this?" Penny asked out loud, looking around at the room._

_"For the fallen"_

_Surprised at the sudden voice Penny let out a shout and spun around, only to see a familiar blond Titan standing there._

_"Come on" Abigail said before turning and walking out, switching off the light as she did, leaving Penny alone momentarily before she jogged out of the room._

_Upon reaching the living room she saw that the other Titans were now present._

_"H-Hi" Penny said as Superboy turned around and smiled at her._

_"Y-You're-" Penny began as she stumbled over her words._

_"Conner" he said reaching out and shaking her hand. "Sorry we weren't here earlier, we had some business to attend to"_

_"That's fine, totally fine" Penny said as another figure walked over talking with Tony, he was still dressed in his suit._

_Nightwing gave her a smile as he crossed the distance between them._

_"Penny, it's nice to meet you" he said as Penny took a moment to realize he was offering her his hand, she hastily grabbed it and shook it with more speed than necessary before sheepishly dropping it._

_"So, how'd you like the tour?" he asked causing Penny to nod._

_"Y-Yeah" Penny began before clearing her throat. "Yeah, It's really cool"_

_Nightwing gave a soft chuckle. "Yeah that's the usual reaction we get"_

_Penny smiled back as she began to feel more at ease._

_"So" Nightwing began glancing back at Tony and May, who walked over to his side. "You've had some time to look around, what do you think? Would you like to stick around for awhile, we already have a room sorted out for you and any belongings you'd like to bring can be brought over tomorrow"_

_Penny didn't respond immediately, thinking over the decision that she'd had on her mind all day._

_"It's your choice, we're not going to force you or anything" Nightwing continued._

_"However you should know, this is a place where people like you can learn how to be the best version of who you are. You've done a great job so far with your abilities, but I believe you can do so much more, with time and training" he said, before Garfield spoke up._

_"Yeah, when the team as reformed for the second generation of Titans, I could only transform into one kind of animal with ease, now look at me" Garfield said giving her an encouraging smile._

_Nightwing placed a hand on her shoulder, causing Penny to turn and look him in the eyes._

_"You don't have to worry, this is a safe place within these walls"_

_Penny took a breath after thinking it over for a few seconds, looking up at Tony and May who had encouraging looks on their faces before turning back to Nightwing._

_"I'd love to, really I would but there's things I can't really avoid missing out on, like-"_

_"Like school" Tony said cutting her off, causing her to nod._

_"Not so much the academic reasons, as I could always do correspondance, but it'd be really suspicious if Penny Parker leaves New York and all of a sudden Spider-Woman is swinging around San Francisco, especially after the whole thing at DC, someone from my school might notice" Penny said._

_'Someone in particular' Penny thought silently to herself._

_"Oh we've already got a plan for that" Tony said nonchalantly, causing Penny to send him a confused look before he motioned behind her with his head._

_Penny turned to see Rachel Roth aka Raven, whom she had been wondering where she'd been, walking back in dressed in her civilian attire, while Abigail came behind her carrying a large full length mirror, setting it down as Conner walked over to hold the wooden frame on the sides of it from behind._

_"You're gonna love this" Garfield said, having moved to Penny's side._

_Rachel took out a piece of chalk and reached up and drew a symbol on the top of the mirror, Penny looked and saw it appeared to be a circle with an eye looking symbol inside of it, with a wavy line horizontally through the centre._

_Abigail walked over beside her and stood in front of the mirror._

_"Surface speak, surface feel, surface think, surface real" she said before stepping back and turning to Penny._

_"What happened? Did you do some kind of spell?" Penny asked._

_"Yeah, now Penny could you come over here and wipe the symbol off please" Abigail said as Penny took a step closer before hesitating._

_"It's safe right?"_

_"Penny" Nightwing said, causing her to turn back to him. "It's safe, you can trust us"_

_Tony nodded at her as well, which was enough for Penny to turn and walk up to the mirror, looking at it all she could see was her own reflection, nothing special or peculiar, reaching up with her sleeve she wiped the symbol off._

_"Right, now just touch the glass" Rachel said as Penny glanced at her before reaching out and touching the glass with her left hand and held it there for a few seconds._

_After seeing no change, she turned to Rachel. "Nothing's happening"_

_"Really?" Rachel asked rhetorically, causing Penny to glance back at the mirror and let out a gasp as she backpedaled away from it._

_The reflection in the mirror hadn't changed it's position when Penny had, but blinked twice before lowering it's arms to its side and glancing around before stepping forward and to Penny and May's shock, the reflection stepped out into the room._

_"Oh my god" Penny said after a moment, staring back at her reflection in shock, not sure what else to say as it stood there looking at them._

_"It will carry on your life in New York while you're here," Rachel said as Conner moved the mirror out of the way and leaned it against the wall to their left._

_"She's...me" Penny said as she took a step closer._

_"Not she , it" Abigail said walking around to Penny's side. "And it's not you, it's a surface copy, it'll walk like you, talk like you, behave like you, and will be enough to fool your teachers and people around you"_

_May was now at Penny's side and staring at the reflection with a similar look of awe._

_"So you want us to send her...it, to school in Penny's place?" May asked, causing Rachel to nod._

_"When she returns to New York, or even if you bring it back here on weekends, it will return into the mirror and the experiences and memories it has made will transfer back into Penny"_

_As Penny took a few moments to process this, she turned across to Rachel and replied._

_"So…I can be in two places at once?"_

_Rachel nodded once more. "Yeah, it's enough to fool normal people, though certain magical beings and sorcerors can tell, but it'll be ideal for your needs for now"_

_"Woah, this is so cool" Penny said as she walked around the reflection, it was a complete replica of her._

_"Say something?"_

_The reflection turned to look at her. "What do you want me to say?" it asked her back._

_It was so strange hearing her own voice speaking back to her in such a manner, Penny couldn't help but let out a laugh._

_"You sound just like me"_

_"Yes, I know"_

_"Do you have a name?"_

_"My name is Penelope Parker"_

_Penny shook her head. "No I mean like your own name?"_

_"Remember Penny, it's not a real person" Abigail said leaning over to her. "It has no thoughts or feelings of it's own, they're all just imitations of yours. It's just your reflection, that's all."_

_May inspected the replica once more before Tony spoke up, catching their attention._

_"So, that will take care of Penny's school issue without having to make any cover stories"_

_Penny turned back to the Titans with a small smile as she took another look around the living area._

_"So, guess I'm moving in"_

**Flashback End**

"Right then, let's go"

Vision turned to see Abigail donning her trench coat, having changed her clothes under it to her regularly seen outfit of black jeans with matching converse and long sleeved white t-shirt as she motioned for him to follow her.

Following along silently till they reached her room, Abigail opened the door and led him through, Vision taking note of large bookcase filled to the brim with various books, a large tv situated on the wall directly across from the large queen size bed, a walk in wardrobe was in the far right of the room, as well as what looked like another bookcase filled with DVDs, the walls had various posters of films, tv shows and anime series strewn about.

Abigail stepped inside the walk in wardrobe, she walked to the supposed end of it, before a door seemed to materialize in front of them, it was a seemingly ordinary looking door made of dark brown hardwood and which had a large green colored circle in the upper centre, he noted a small matching circle on the brass doorknob.

Reaching forward, Abigail turned the doorknob to the left, causing the circle in it to turn blue as did the circle on the door, turning it again it changed to red.

Giving him a small smile, she opened the door and stepped through, leading them into a hallway.

"We're going outside, I don't know if you want to put your civilian disguise thing back on, it's up to you"

Vision have her a confused look.

"I don't understand, I thought you said we were going to England"

"Just follow me" she said smiling before walking down the hall and revealing they were in what looked like a completely different building, not the sae as the tower.

Stepping into what looked like a living area, she walked past it and out the front door, which led them down a flight of stairs which connected to another open room, before coming to the front door which Vision could see led to the outside.

"We don't need to go to England" she said before opening the door. "We're already there"

Vision looked out to see an unfamiliar street as Abigail walked out, he followed her a few moments later, his form shimmering with golden light as his civilian disguise was once again in place.

They were no longer in San Francisco but what looked like a residential neighbourhood, stepping out onto the small garden he turned and saw the building they walked out of was an orange brick flat which had three stories to it, a fence separating it on both sides from the neighbours.

The time seemed to be late in the afternoon, a change from the morning hours they'd just left in San Francisco.

"So, fancy a walk or should we fly?" Abigail said as Vision turned to her.

* * *

**S.T.A.R. Labs: London Branch**

Marcia took the offered clipboard from the intern before quickly scribbling her signature at the bottom of the document.

"That should be the last of them Doctor Constantine, I'll be sure to get these scanned and emailed out right away" the young woman said before leaving the office hastily.

Glancing at the clock Marcia gave a satisfied smile before grabbing her laptop bag from her desk and making her way out of her office, locking the door behind her.

She'd had a long day and was looking forward to heading home after grocery shopping.

However she wasn't expecting to see a familiar figure standing patiently near the street as she exited the main entrance, albeit disguised. .

"Vision" she said quickly jogging over to him. "Hey, what are you doing here? There's not some kind of emergency or anything is there?" she quickly asked, hoping that wasn't the case.

Vision merely gave her a calm shake of his head. "No there isn't any emergency, I just wished to speak with you"

Letting out a relieved sigh Marcia smiled at him.

"And you came all this way, you know I do own a phone right?" she teased as they began walking down the street together.

"Yes, however this is a rather personal matter and I felt it was more appropriate to speak with you in person," he replied.

"Oh, uh ok sure. We can talk at my place if you'd like, though I was going to stop and grab some groceries first"

"I would be more than happy to assist you," he said as they began walking.

"Your cousin brought me over here with her, though after we arrived here at STAR Labs, she received a call from a Mr Wally West who wished to see her, I informed her I would be fine waiting for you"

"You could have asked the front desk, they could have called me out" She said as he gave a polite nod.

"Yes, but I didn't want to interrupt your work"

"Honestly, you would have been doing me a favor, nothing of much interest happened today" she said as they made their way down the street.

* * *

Opening the door to her flat Marcia entered holding three grocery bags in her hands, followed by Vision who was carrying five, he'd offered to carry the heavier bags and Marcia wasn't going to complain about that.

The flat had three bedrooms and a bathroom, a spacious lounge area and attached kitchen and laundry room, more than enough room for the young woman.

However upon entering the kitchen she remembered the large clutter of notes and books spread about the lounge room, her sofa completely covered as well as her coffee table.

"Damn, uh sorry about the mess, I wasn't really expecting company" she said quickly putting the bags on the floor and rushing over to try and rearrange it all.

After a few seconds of attempted organizing, Marcia gave up as she just grabbed the papers into her arms and began piling them in the corner of the room next to a large bookcase, placing the books next to the papers.

"I'll sort that out later" she said with slight embarrassment.

She and Vision then proceeded to pack away the groceries before Marcia directed Vision to sit on the sofa.

"I know you still don't really eat but would you like something to drink, I'm going to make some tea if you wanted some"

"Thank you, that would be nice" Vision said as Marcia placed two tea bags into mugs and poured the water.

Vision had discovered that while he didn't really need to eat, nor usually had a desire to, he did enjoy drinking tea and other beverages.

This had led to a rather interesting outing where Penny and Tony had taken him to several stores to try different drinks, such as smoothies and iced coffee.

While he was still experimenting with his tastes, he found that tea was still his favorite.

Marcia brought both mugs over after adding the milk and passed Vision his before taking a seat beside him.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" she asked.

Vision turned to her, but remained silent for several seconds, as if unsure of how to begin.

"I…" he began slowly. "I find myself in a complicated situation and am unsure exactly how to proceed"

"Ok, so you need advice?" Marcia questioned, taking a sip from her mug as Vision gave a slight nod.

"It is something with which you have in-depth knowledge of, and I believe have gone through personally, to put it delicately"

Marcia stared back at Vision for a moment with confusion, before her eyes widened in realisation as to what he meant.

"O-Oh, ok um...wow, of everything I thought you might want to talk about, this wasn't what I expected," she said in surprise.

"I'm sorry"

"No no" she said gently, quickly putting her mug down and placing her hand on Vision's arm. "You don't need to apologize, I'm not upset or anything, you just surprised me is all"

"So, how long have you been questioning your gender identity, or at least your perceived gender identity" Marcia asked gently.

Vision's expression shifted to one of contemplation.

"I'm not completely sure, it may be that it has been something I was subconsciously pondering since my conception. However with the initial threat of Ultron and the aftermath of it, such thoughts were not at the forefront of my mind"

Marcia nodded along as she listened to Vision speak.

"I began observing the concept of gender identity during my time at the compound, as well as during my trips to Stark Tower"

"You spoke with Tony about it?" Marcia questioned casually.

"...No, I did not bring up the issue with Mr Stark" Vision replied after a few moments hesitation, Marcia noted this before he continued.

"I found myself reluctant to voice my concerns and issues with others at the compound, my interaction with Mr Wilson was far and inbetween outside of training drills and missions I accompanied him on, we did not engage in much socialization or 'downtime' so to speak, he mainly congregated with Mr Rogers"

"Wanda...I was unsure how to bring up my thoughts with her, she seemed to have much on her mind at times, often about her past or training with her powers, at the time I felt it best not to burden her with my own issues"

"And Rogers?" Marcia asked with a frown.

Vision again paused for a few moments, considering his words before continuing.

"The more I like back on our time at the compound, I find myself noticing various examples of Mr Rogers inability to adapt to the modern world, or possibly not so much an inability, as a conscious desire not to. Certain conversations we had, or comments he made in passing displayed his 'old fashioned' mindset so to speak, social structures and gender oriented ideals that the more I researched the subject, I realise would be considered outdated by some, and definitely offensive to others. Again I believe this stemmed from him not fully educating himself on the modern world, or seeking help in doing so from outside sources."

"Hmm, I suspected SHIELD probably only brought him up to speed on so much" Marcia commented, stroking her chin. "His constant engagement in combat missions after the Chitauri invasion may have also hindered this, though you can't blame them completely, he had time and the resources to do so, even after SHIELD fell, he made himself right at home leeching off Tony" Marcia said with a harder tone, before turning to Vision.

"Did he ever say something to you that seemed hurtful, or you didn't agree with"

Vision again didn't answer her immediately, his thoughts going back to his conversations he'd had with Rogers.

Marcia noted the expression on his face, and reach over gently, placing her hand on Vision's.

"You don't have to worry about him anymore Vision" she assured him, before waiting for a moment and continuing.

"Now, about Tony" she began gently. "You're reluctant to talk to him about it, I get it, trust me I do"

"I am afraid"

Marcia's eyes widened slightly as she heard this.

"Vision, Tony isn't going to hurt you or lash out at you because of this"

"I feel…I feel he may be upset with me still, over my decision regarding Ms Maximoff, I now know his reasons for distancing himself from the Avengers was made partially due to Mr Rogers adamant desire that she be made a member of the team despite Mr Stark stating his concerns regarding the dangers it could represent."

"Has he shown any signs of being upset with you?" Marcia asked, already knowing the answer.

"Not outwardly, though he has been very busy dealing with the fallout of the 'Civil War' as well as his mentorship of Penny, It's possible he has buried this among other pressing concerns" Vision replied.

Marcia herself knew that Tony wasn't angry with Vision, but seeing the genuine look of unease on the android's face showed her how serious he was taking it.

"Vision, believe me Tony is not angry with you, he doesn't hold you responsible for what happened with Wanda, or with any of them" Marcia said causing him to turn to her, she waited a moment before speaking up once more.

"How do you perceive Tony, Vision"

He quirked his head to the side slightly at her question.

"I mean how do you view him, in conjunction with yourself" she elaborated.

"Well, he is my creator" Vision said after a moment.

Marcia nodded at this, giving him a small smile.

"He's your father Vision, that's why you're so anxious and concerned" she began, taking a small sip from her mug once more before continuing.

"You want his acceptance, you want his approval, for him to be a positive influence and supportive figure in your life," she continued, her eyes looking down slightly.

"Are you alright?" Vision asked, picking up on her sudden shift in demeanor.

"If I'm going to continue this particular route of our conversation, you'll have to excuse me for a moment," she said before standing up and exiting the living room, walking down the hall and out of sight.

She returned a few minutes later holding a small jar full of pipe tobacco in one hand, and a black straight stemmed pipe in the other.

Sitting down once again beside him she opened the jar up, pausing momentarily to look at him.

"You don't mind if I…" she said gesturing to her pipe.

"It is your home, by all means do as you feel comfortable"

She proceeded to pack a nice amount of tobacco into the pipe and screwed the lid back on, picking up a box of matches on the coffee table in front of her she proceeded to light her pipe, inhaling softly as the bowl filled with an orange hue, savoring it momentarily before exhaling she turned back to Vision.

"Another reason I know Tony won't react negatively, he never did to me and he's known me my whole life," she began before taking another puff from her pipe.

"I came out to my parents when I was fourteen, and they had differing reactions to this, my mother was confused and didn't really understand it. She wanted to help me, but her version of 'help' involved therapy, she thought I was confused or suffering from some mental health problems"

"My father on the other hand…" she began slowly, staring at the coffee table in front of her. "He was worse, he was always a religious person, but he was a fanatic" she said looking up once more at Vision.

"He thought I was sinning against myself and god, that that I'd been brainwashed by the devil and the media as well as the LGBTQ+ community" she said with a scoff.

"He also had to blame Uncle John as well of course" she said rolling her eyes slightly.

"This lead to more arguments between my parents over 'how to deal with the problem' , he was adamant that no child of his would be a...blasphemous queer"

Marcia went silent after that as she relit her pipe, taking a few puffs before continuing.

"This went on for a few weeks, till my mother and younger sister went away on a trip, one of our relatives on the Carter side of the family was sick and Mum and Gemma went to help them out. I was meant to go, but my father said he needed me there at home, that he needed an extra pair of hands to fix up some maintenance issues around the house"

"For all my intellect, I didn't suspect anything. I actually started to feel slightly optimistic, I thought we could talk it out with it just being the two of us, that I could make him understand my point of view" she said before letting out a laugh devoid of any humor.

"The moment my mother and sister had driven out of our street he made his move. He locked me in the basement of our home and proceeded to do his 'holy duty' and get me to repent, which translated to him forcefully shaving all of the hair off my head, saying it was too long and one of the symptoms of my 'diseased mind', followed by long sessions where he got his money's worth out of several leather straps while I received was bruising, injuries and emotional breakdowns" she said coldly before taking another sip from her mug, finishing off the last of her tea.

"I had a dress as well, I'd gone and bought it in secret but hadn't worn it yet but had hidden it in my room, it wasn't expensive but it had a great deal of sentimental value, it was the first piece of truly feminine clothing I owned. He found it after tearing through my room searching for things he considered sinful and not allowed within his house, and proceeded to burn it in front of me"

"This went on for over a week, almost two and during this time he barely fed me and continue trying to force me to 'repent'. However an opportunity presented itself one evening, now my father wasn't a drinker, he didn't drink often. But this one evening he did have a few, got himself pretty pissed and came down again to the basement, due to his inebriation I was able to pick his pocket when he didn't notice and got his mobile phone" she said with a ghost of a grin on her face, turning to Vision.

"Uncle John had previously taught me how to do that for a laugh, I look back on it everyday and am thankful he did. I proceeded to call Aunt Zatanna, having memorized her number previously, but she didn't pick up due to being busy, I left a message explaining what had happened to me as best I could, and hoped that they'd see the message in time"

**Flashback**

_The door to the Masters household suddenly burst open as Zatanna and John came through looking around with haste._

_"Who's there-" the sound of Tony Masters coming through from the next room before he froze._

_"What are you doing here! Get out or-" he began but was cut off as Zatanna thrust her right hand in his direction, causing him to be flung back across the room and be thrown onto a cabinet, breaking the glass on it and making shards rain down on him as he fell to the ground crying out in pain._

_Zatanna quickly rushed to where she knew the basement door was, unlocking it before descending down into the basement._

_"Marcus...Marcus" she said softly before switching on the light, hearing a shuffle she turned to see the huddled form of her nephew curled up in the corner next to a chest of drawers._

_Upon hearing her voice, the teen looked up and Zatanna's mouth fell open at the sight of him, different colored bruises littered across the skin she could see, the only clothing on him was a pair of pyjama pants that looked filthy, one of his eyes was almost closed from the dark bruising around it._

_"A-Aunty…"_

_Moving over to him, he let out a sob as she inspected his face before moving her arms around to pull him into her embrace._

_"Oh sweetheart, what has he done to you" Zatanna said softly she felt his body rock and shake with sobs, a damp feeling beginning to soak into her shirt._

_"Right Zee have you got him" John's voice called out before he appeared at the bottom of the stairs._

_Marcus glanced up at him with reddened tear filled eyes and John's form froze._

_"Uncle John…"_

_John swallowed before turning his head back up towards the stairs and hastily running back up them._

_After reaching the top he made his way back to the front room, seeing his brother in law starting to stand back up John grabbed a vase resting next to the sofa and let out a grunt as he swung it around and smashed it over his head, causing the man to let out another scream of pain._

_Not pausing, John grabbed him by the collar and yanked him back and hit him with a right hook which sent him reeling back._

_"I should have done this years ago you prick!" John said before continuing to hit him again and again, not letting him have a second's reprieve._

_Zatanna had brought Marcus upstairs and taken her jacket off to cover his upper body, walking out just as John gave a soft chant and his right hand summoned a fireball, bringing his arm back and preparing to let it loose._

_"No! Stop!"_

_Pausing, John turned as Marcus weakly had made his way to John's side, wrapping both arms around John's and looking at him with tears rolling down his face._

_"Please Uncle John! Please-let's just go! Please! I-I just want to get out of here"_

_John's furious expression didn't waver as he turned to stare into Marcus' eyes._

_"After everything he did to you-"_

_John's arm was gripped harder as Marcus stared back at him in desperation._

_"I know! I know, but…" he began before letting out another sob. "He's not worth it...Please I just want to get away from this place"_

_John's expression slowly softened as he lowered his arm, the fire dissipating before he brought Marcus closer into a hug, stroking the jagged uneven buzz cut covering his scalp._

_"Alright….Alright, let's go" John said before moving Marcus away from his father, who was on the ground groaning out in pain, arms wrapped around his body as the two walked out towards the door._

_Before they could leave though, Zatanna made her way back over to him and delivered a kick to the side of his face, sending him to the floor in one swift action and rendering him unconscious, levelling his body with one last look of disgust, she walked over to join them as they left the house._

**Flashback End**

"After that they took me in, said I didn't have to go back there. They asked what pronouns I wanted to be addressed as and my gender identity" She began a genuine smile coming over her face since she'd started recounting her past.

"And, honestly the feeling of being accepted and not only that but encouraged to be who I was inside, made me the happiest I'd been in a long time."

"Soon after Uncle John and Aunt Zatanna began helping me transition, and when I was able to I legally had my name changed from Marcus Masters, to Marcia Constantine, dropping my father's last name and taking my mother's maiden name"

Vision had been silent for most of Marcia's recount, not wishing to interrupt her on what was an obviously difficult subject.

"And your parents?"

Marcia sniffed before replying.

"My father was arrested soon after, Aunt Zatanna had taken pictures of my injuries and getting the police involved. However he was never convicted"

"Why not, surely there was sufficient evidence of abuse?" Vision queried.

"Yeah, there was. Though let's just say his actions attracted a group of supports that had a bit of pull here and there, they made sure he was let off, got rid of the photos too" she said taking another puff from her pipe.

"A group called The Resurrection Crusade, a bunch of crazy militant religious fanatics, he fit right in" she said with a scoff. "He joined up with that lot, and dragged Mum into it too"

"Me leaving home did put a strain on their marriage, Uncle John tried to get her to leave him, but Mum didn't believe he'd hurt me as bad as he did" Marcia began before shaking her head. "Or maybe she just didn't want to believe it"

"Uncle John eventually got rid of The Resurrection Crusade, and Mum did eventually leave my father though it took far longer than it should have"

Vision nodded slightly before speaking up.

"And is your relationship on better standing with your mother now?"

"It is better, she does address me by the proper name and pronouns now, but it is still awkward at times"

Standing up, she picked up her empty mug and carried it over to the kitchen, placing it in the sink as Vision went over in his head all that she had said.

Seeing this, Marcia sat back next to him and waited for a few minutes, both of them enjoying the calm silence.

"Vision" Marcia said, breaking the silence after several minutes, reaching over and resting her hand on top of his.

"You can do this, speak to Tony, I know he will support you. And know that you'll always have an ally in me, if you ever need to talk or need advice, I'm here for you"

Taking in her calm and genuine words, Vision felt yet another sense of relief since having began their discussion.

"Thank you truly, you have put me at ease over several of my concerns"

"Happy to help" Marcia said with a smile, leaning back on the sofa and placing her hands in her lap.

"Now, another important question" she began, catching Vision's attention.

"What pronouns would you like me to address you as"

* * *

**Several Hours Later**

Tony had returned to Stark Tower from a series of meetings, some in regards to SI and others regarding the Accords and had instantly jumped in the shower, the hot water helping him relax after a long and stressful day.

After drying off, he heard from Friday that Vision wished to speak with him, so making his way out into the kitchen area of the residential floor, he saw Vision seated near the television going over a book, when he saw Tony enter however he stood up to meet him.

"Hey buddy, what's up Friday said you wanted to talk?" Tony said as he made his way over to the fridge, grabbing himself a bottle of water. "Want one?" he said motioning with the bottle.

"No, thank you" Vision declined.

"I did wish to speak with you, though if you'd prefer to take some time to relax after your meetings I understand"

"No no, it's fine, I can talk" Tony said leaning against the countertop and taking a few sips from the bottle.

Nodding, Vision made his way over and took a moment before speaking up.

"I have been...contemplating certain personal matters for quite some time actually. This morning I travelled to San Francisco in order to seek advice from Ms Constantine, she provided me with some helpful advice, but suggested I seek further advice and input from her cousin, we then went to see Dr Constantine in London"

"You guys went to England?" Tony said speaking up. "She use the magic door thingy?"

"Yes, it was quite interesting"

"She managed to create a stable breach between two completely separate points in space and time, you know she won't explain to me how she does it" Tony commented with a roll of his eyes.

"I believe her explanation would most likely be 'Magic' " Vision commented with a straight face, causing Tony to let out a laugh.

"Yeah, so what did you have to go all that way to talk about?"

Vision looked at Tony for a moment before replying.

Tony was mostly silent, nodding along as Vision explained everything in detail.

After Vision had finished, Tony didn't speak for a few moments before he looked Vision in the eyes.

"I'm sorry"

"Excuse me?" Vision asked.

Tony walked around the countertop till he was standing in front of Vision.

"I'm sorry that you didn't feel like you could come to me with this, or if I ever made you feel like I wouldn't accept you"

"You have nothing to apologise for" Vision began after hearing Tony's apology.

"I let my own anxieties and false assumptions get in the way, I shouldn't have"

Tony discarded the now empty water bottle in the garbage before turning his attention back to Vision, going over the words in his head for a few moments, trying to find the right ones.

"I don't blame you for any of the shit that went down with Rogers or the Maximoff, or any of it. And yes, I had my own concerns and reservations about Maximoff, big ones. But..she made you happy" Tony said placing his hands on Vision's shoulders.

"You seemed to enjoy her company, and were trying to figure out your place in the world, hell you still are. So I decided to not get between you two"

"...Perhaps you should have" Vision commented.

"I appreciate you putting my own feelings and wellbeing above your concerns regarding Ms Maximoff, but with foresight, if you explained your reasonings and concerns I would have heeded them. Perhaps I could have influenced her behaviour into being less hostile, or taken further precautions in regards to her situation at the compound." Vision began before shaking his head.

"What I'm trying to say is, I would have listened to you, over her"

The two sat merely stood there, time seeming to drag on till Tony patted Vision on the shoulder.

"How bout we just focus on moving forward huh"

Vision nodding softly at Tony's suggestion. "Yes, I would like that"

"And Marcia was right you know, though she's right most of the time, us genius' usually are"

"About what?" Vision questioned.

"You're my kid"

Hearing this caused a small smile to grow on Vision's face, before Tony continued.

"And if this is how you wish to identify yourself, I'll do everything I can to help you. If or when you want to announce this to the world, you'll have support and I know that things won't be easy in some cases, Marcia has experienced a lot of discrimination, and you will unfortunately encounter it out there. But myself, Rhodey and the others will be here for you, every step of the way"

"Thank you...father"

Hearing the title made a matching smile grace Tony's face as he moved to wrap an arm around Vision as he led them both out of the room.

"Now, on the subject of transitioning, I guess you could use the synthetic skin construct you use now to change your outer appearance if you wished to in public, though I don't know how that would clash with your base form underneath as it has a pretty solid masculine appearance, though I'm sure I can-"

"Actually" Vision began gently, cutting Tony off from the start of his rambling.

"I have given some consideration to this issue"

* * *

**Four Months After Civil War**

**Stark Tower**

Vision stood in the centre of the room, which had been specifically set up for this purpose.

The room had a circular centre section where Vision was standing, and to the far right a series of computer screens and monitors was currently being looked over by Tony, Lena and Marcia behind a large clear protective screen.

The Titans were present along with the Defenders. Kara had come with Lena and had brought Nia Nal aka Dreamer along to witness the event, Diana was also present speaking with Donna Troy on the sidelines with the others, Rhodey and Pepper were also present observing from behind the screen.

"Ok, we've got everything set up to monitor your transition on the tech end of things, remember if you feel at any point that you should stop, I'd recommend doing so" Lena said across the Vision, who nodded as Tony walked over around the screen and over to the centre of the room.

"You ready for this" he asked at Vision's side, getting a nod from the android.

"I will admit to have been feeling some anxiety regarding today, but it is also paired with eagerness to test my theory's validation"

"Been there a million times myself" Tony said clapping Vision's shoulder, before a moment passed and he moved into a hug.

"Good luck"

After the two moved back, Tony have Vision a small nod of reassurance before moving back over to where Lena and Marcia were going over the monitors still.

"Hey"

Turning Vision saw Penny standing there with her hands tucked into her jeans smiling.

"I just wanted to wish you luck too, it's so cool what your doing, and brave. Kara and Nia apparently are talking about the proposed interview when you have your public reveal"

Vision nodded with a smile. "Yes, I agreed to let them have the exclusive"

"You're going to get a lot of backlash unfortunately, but I know you're also going to be a role model for a lot of people out there" Penny said nodding to Vision before moving into a hug of her own.

After Penny moved back, Rachel and Abigail walked over to Vision's side.

"Ok, now I'm going to place the containment barrier now" Abigail said pulling a small square piece of paper from her coat inner pocket, it had a circular design on it with various symbols going around.

Vision nodded as she placed it on the floor in the centre.

They both walked to opposite sides of Vision and stood on the very edge of the room's centre section.

"Due to us not knowing if the Mind Stone will have any violent or adverse reactions to your transitions, we'll also be putting up our own shielding just for added security" Rachel said as she nodded to Abigail, who clapped her hands together in front of her, as she did the paper glowed at Vision's feet before the circular symbol enlarged and spread across the floor around Vision, with a few feet of room in between.

Vision looked up to see a round circular shimmer appear in the air before fading.

Rachel and Abigail raised their arms and Vision nodded at them.

"Let's begin"

The Mind Stone began to glow in Vision's forehead, and a golden amber half dome appeared on Abigail's side of the room, a similar dark black dome appeared from Rachel's side, their shielding meeting to form a full dome around Vision.

In the observation area, Tony, Lena and Marcia were monitoring the screens intensely as they received the readings coming from Vision.

Within the dome shield, Vision was now floating off the ground, arms bent in a floating curled position, a look of concentration as the Mind Stone glowed brighter.

Back in the observation area Lena was watching the readings, glancing up at the dome.

"Readings are showing slightly higher output than expected"

Marcia turned to Tony, who was staring at the centre of the room unmoving.

Within the dome, with gritted teeth Vision could feel their form shifting and changing, letting out a groan which penetrated into the outer room.

"Vision!" Tony exclaimed.

The groaning continued growing louder.

"Readings are still growing higher" Lena said with concern.

A sharp cry from within the dome caused Tony to dash around the protective screen.

"Tony!" the other two cried out.

"Vision!" Tony called out from the outer edge of the centre of the room.

The cry grew in volume before shifting and changing, causing Tony to narrow his eyes.

Vision's voice was changing noticeably, changing from the familiar deeper tones Tony had known for so long, to a feminine sounding cry.

After a few moments Vision's voice became silent, Rachel and Abigail moved their hands down and the dome dissipated followed by the circular barrier shrinking back onto the piece of paper.

In the centre with steam wafting off their form, stood Vision, who's new form had the same color scheme as it previously did, and still held the same height but was visibly feminine in appearance in contrast to the former masculine appearance.

Vision seemed to sway momentarily, causing Tony to rush over to offer support.

"T-Thank you" Vision said before grasping her throat in surprise at the first clear sound of her new voice.

The other's present began moving into the room from behind the safety areas.

"It worked, you did it" Tony said warmly. "You ok to stand?"

"Yes, I was feeling uncoordinated, but it's already passing" Vision said taking a few steps forward.

"Here, why don't you take a look at your appearance" Lena said as she tapped a few commands on the tablet she had in hand, causing the large protective screen in front of the computer terminals to turn a reflective dark sheen.

Vision stared back at her new form, taking in the differences she could see before she willed her synthetic human appearance to appear, golden light spreading across as her outer form.

When it died down those present took in her new human look, which had the appearance of a young woman with caucasian skin tone, her eyes remaining the same color as before, she had light blond hair that went down past her shoulders.

Her clothing that materialized was a dark green jacket over a cream colored shirt and a pair of light blue jeans with dark sneakers.

"Look at that" Tony said with praise. "Incredible, fantastic, just...just" he began before letting out a breath and running a hand through her hair before resting it on her shoulder.

"You look great" he said smiling at her, to which Vision returned the smile, happy that he and the others seemed to find her new form acceptable, everyone was smiling and congratulating her.

"Really, you do" Tony said in a quieter more reserved tone.

This caused Vision to smile wider at him, the elation and happiness she felt was almost overwhelming.

"Thanks Dad"

* * *

**One Week Later**

**Stark Tower**

Vision was seated in the living room of the main residential area with her human appearance in place, sitting crossed legged on the couch as she went through a handful of documents.

Ever since the aftermath of the Ultron incident, there had been questions asked in various channels as to the nature of Vision and her status as a living being, could she be considered a sentient being or a machine? Was she entitled to the same rights as others? Was she someone's property?

Tony had been working on this since the aftermath of Ultron, but with everything that had happened, and the Sokovia Accords which (contrary to Steve's belief) had been in the works since the Chitauri Invasion, Vision's status had been pushed more to the background.

However now they had more time to focus on it, and thus Vision had been going over various documents Tony had drafted up with the help of his extensive legal team's, and would be the basis for Vision finally being considered in the eyes of the law, a living sentient being.

"So what do you think?"

Looking over the back of the couch, she saw Tony walking in, still dressed in a three piece suit from his previous engagement.

"They are some very thorough documents, they address everything I had concerns about" she said as he sat down beside her.

She'd had a meeting earlier in the day with Matthew Murdock, who'd gone over the document in great detail with her, despite Vision's capabilities she still preferred having the Lawyer with her when she looked them over.

"There is one section that took longer, I had been considering it, but when it came time to actually write it, It took me some time to narrow down my choice"

"And what was that?" Tony asked.

"The name section"

Tony arched a brow in slight confusion. "You don't want to be called Vision anymore?"

"No, that's not it," she said, shaking her head. "I believe the name Vision still suits me in this form, it has no masculine or feminine connotations, it is a neutral designation in that regard. However I believe choosing a name that people can find more relatable to other humans is ideal, at least to be used in public settings or for legal reasons, I feel it gives me more legitimacy in that sense"

"I understand, that sounds find" Tony said nodding, before motioning to the documents. "So what did you choose?"

"Like I said, it took some time, I looked through many names, in english and many other languages, before choosing this one" she said finding the specific page and showing Tony.

"Huh" he said turning to look at her and inspecting her before nodding. "It suits you"

"However" He said picking up the document. "You are missing a middle and last name, so if you're ok with it, how about this," he continued as he scribbled down two more names beside the one Vision had written before turning the page back around to face her.

Vision inspected the new additions before her eyes widened slightly before she looked up at him.

"A-Are you sure, I mean I wouldn't wish to-"

"Vision" Tony said cutting her off gently. "If I wasn't sure, I wouldn't have written them down. Besides the last name makes sense, and for the middle one...she would have loved you" he said softly, causing Vision to blink for a moment before nodding.

"Ok, if you believe so, I would be honored to accept"

Smiling back at her, Tony stood up and shuffled the documents together.

"Well then if these are all finished, I can get them down to legal and they can make the appropriate copies and get them notarized and filed with the proper channels"

Vision stood up after him and nodded.

"You still preparing for your interview next week?" Tony asked causing Vision to nod.

"Yes, It's been on my mind quite a lot"

"You'll do great" Tony said reassuringly. "And you'll be introducing yourself to the world in your new form, we should organize a little get together with friends, it'll be fun"

"I believe one may already be in the process of being organized" Vision said as they both walked towards the private elevator.

"Great, less work for me then" Tony said teasingly.

As they descended down the levels, Tony once again glanced over the documents flipping through them quickly resting on the name she'd chosen and the two he'd given her.

_Victoria Maria Stark_

* * *

**Present Day**

**Gotham City**

"Thank you again for allowing me to borrow this, I enjoyed it very much" Vision said handing the large leather bound book back to Jason Blood, who nodded.

"It is quite the read, I'm glad you liked it. Why don't you make yourself comfortable, I'll just go and return this" he said as she nodded.

As Jason left the room, Vision made her way over to the fireplace, looking across the sitting room and a large glass case filled with a variety of items.

Turning to the side she saw a vase seated atop a small cabinet, walking over she inspected it's design before a familiar voice reached out to her via code.

**'Vision'**

'Yes Friday, what is it?'

**'There's been some bad news, Boss found out and it's not good'**

'What is it, is he ok?'

**'Physically, he's fine. But I'm worried, he found out that the Rogues are possibly being pardoned'**

As soon as she heard those words time seemed to freeze around her.

Vision felt her breathing quicken and a sudden feeling of dizziness overcame her, stumbling to the side she faintly heard a loud crashing sound as she gripped the fireplace with one hand which was tingling, her chest beginning to hurt as she struggled to catch her breath.

Wanda's hand coming up to the side of father's head, red wisps of energy sinking into his head as a look of fear and catatonia overcame him.

**'-Sion!'**

"I can't control their fear, only my own"

**"-Ision!"**

Concrete crashing around her as she was forced through yet another floor.

Down down so far beneath the earth.

She felt that feeling again as if she was being swallowed up and cut off from the rest of the world.

"Vision!"

Her head spun to the side as she felt two hands gripping her cheeks.

"Vision, it's ok, I need you to breathe for me, it's ok, you're safe...you're safe, look at me," Jason said as Vision was shaking.

"You're safe"

Vision slowly began to calm down, her breathing returning to normal as Jason helped her stand.

As she did, she brought a hand up to rest on her forehead, closing her eyes and letting out a shaky breath.

'Friday'

**'Vision! You're ok, you weren't responding, I was about to call Boss'**

'I'm...I'm ok'

'Please, tell me everything'


	8. Reassurance

**Chapter 8 is here!**

**This was actually posted awhile ago on Archive of our Own, sorry for the late posting here.**

**I hope you enjoy, and if you do please let me know in the reviews :)**

* * *

Tony could hear Penny and the others voices travelling to the kitchen as he watched the coffee machine do its job, filling his mug as he leaned on the countertop.

Jessica, Luke and Danny had gone back to their respective homes for the evening before Dick and the Titans had arrived with Kara and Lena,they'd also brought Clark and Lois along with them surprisingly.

Bruce and Alfred had arrived not too long ago to join them as well.

Tony had tried to relax completely into Penny's movie night, which was looking like it would definitely become a two or three nighter following onto the next two evenings, given the amount of films everyone kept adding to the list.

However he'd kept finding himself distracted, or creating distractions or himself to leave the room. He couldn't concentrate on the films, and didn't want to ruin the others' enjoyment, thus he'd been mostly floating in and out.

"I know saying this is a lost cause, but maybe try not to have another cup after that one"

Turning he saw Kara walking into the kitchen, holding an empty snack bowl which she promptly refilled with potato chips, grabbing some dip from the fridge as well before placing them down on the countertop.

"Yeah, total lost cause. I'll fight any of you who tries to stop me, your cousin included" Tony said before taking a sip from the mug.

"I know it's hard to try and relax, given everything that's going on. I had a bit of a freak out session with Lena earlier" Kara said as Tony nodded.

"Yeah, she told me"

"Right, of course she did," Kara said, rolling her eyes slightly before turning back to him.

"Just know that everyone in that room is on your side, we're going to support you in this"

"I know, I just…" Tony began before sighing. "I guess it's going to take some time to fully wrap my head around it being real. I mean I know it's all speculation and rumors right now, but this has been something on the back of my mind ever since the aftermath of everything that happened, that they would come back and things would….well things would possibly go to shit, and with everything that's happened since, with The Avengers, Penny and Vision and-and everyone else I just-" Tony said as he started stumbling over his words.

"You don't want to lose what you've gained since Rogers left" Kara finished for him softly, causing Tony to look away silently, staring down into his mug before giving a slight nod.

Kara reached over and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder causing Tony to look at her, his eyes now moistening slightly as unshed tears began making their way to the surface for the first time today.

Kara felt her heart breaking seeing him like this, she knew he had been keeping up a strong facade for Penny, who had already had a bad reaction to the news, and it seemed as if his defences were beginning to crumble before her eyes. Sniffling lightly, he must have realized what he looked like and quickly wiped his eyes with his sleeve.

"It's ok," Kara said softly before moving him closer into a hug, cradling him gently. "It's going to be ok, trust me"

After several moments of this, she felt Tony's stiffened limbs begin to relax into her embrace.

When she finally moved back she saw him once again wiping away at his eyes, though he now had a small smile gracing his features.

"Thanks," he said lightly, letting out a breath as Kara nodded.

"Anytime, like I said, we're all here for you"

"I might...I definitely will have a panic attack of my own, probably on par with Penny's this morning. Hell I almost had one this morning too, but Penny beat me to it" he said trying to force some humor into the situation before his expression sobered.

"She needed me more then, I...I had to be strong for her"

"There's nothing wrong with letting yourself feel these things once in a while, you don't have to put on a show for me or any of us. You're only human Tony, you make mistakes, you bleed, you feel sadness, anger, and so much more. We're not going to persecute you or berate you for needing a shoulder to cry on every now and then, I need one too from time to time"

Tony couldn't help but look down again from her gaze, taking her words in slowly before smiling lightly again.

"I guess for you it'd be _ "You're only Kryptonian" _ right?"

This got a small snort from Kara as the two shared a chuckle.

"Come on, let's head back in, these snacks aren't going to eat themselves and we still have several more movie options to pick"

Tony retrieved his mug before walking beside Kara.

"Did Bruce put in a vote yet?" he asked as Kara retrieved the dip and chips.

"He stepped out for a few minutes, though he gave his vote to Clark" Kara said as she already began taking a handful of chips for herself.

Nodding to her, they continued on back towards the others.

* * *

Bruce Wayne stood outside the doors to the indoor training area, having taken a few moments to look in from the window before entering, the doors closing behind him as he took in the scene.

The training room floor was littered with Iron Legion armor droids in various states of disrepair, some were still intact while others lay in tatters spread about the facility with scorch marks and cuts through them.

Looking up towards the ceiling he saw the sight of Abigail flying in the air damaging a smaller drone with a well placed kick and sending it crashing into a wall before being hit with a fireball she sent from her right hand.

Upon seeing Bruce however she stopped and after he gestured her down, began descending back down to the floor next to the flaming remains of the drone.

She had changed from the clothes she'd been wearing earlier and was now dressed in a simple pair of light black pants and a white sports top baring her midriff, the outfit allowing her maneuverability while also showing off her muscular physique.

"Did Rachel send you to check up on me?" Abigail asked as she approached him. Knowing her girlfriend could literally feel her emotions from where she was in the compound.

"No, though she has been wondering when you're going to join the rest of us" Bruce replied as he sat down against the wall near the entrance, motioning for her to join him.

"I just...needed to blow off some steam" she said as she retrieved a bottle of water she'd placed on the floor and took a sip.

"Yes, for two hours" Bruce said with a knowing look.

"Look, I know everything with Rogers has you worked up. It's understandable to be upset, given everything that went down"

"It's not just him!" Abigail said with more force to it than she intended as she leaned back against the wall and slid down slowly with a sigh.

"I mean, yeah it mainly is, but it's bringing up a lot of other stuff I thought was behind me, everything that happened with Tony, not to mention with Sharon"

Bruce gave her a questioning look. "Jennifer told me that Sharon has been trying to contact you, have you responded to any of her calls?"

"Nope" she said simply, crossing her arms and staring back at the wall opposite them across the room.

"I haven't spoken to her since I visited her when she was locked up" she began before scoffing. "She's fucking lucky Tony and Jennifer helped argue her case and she got off as lightly as she did"

Turning she saw Bruce giving her the same look silently, which caused her to close her eyes and turn back away from him.

"Sharon will always be my cousin, and I will always care for her. But she chose to exacerbate the entire situation, first with Barnes and then at the Airport by helping Rogers and the others. And you can't tell me things wouldn't have gone down differently if she hadn't! Wilson wouldn't have had his wingsuit and Rogers wouldn't have had his shield. A shield which was later used to harm Tony in Siberia…." Abigail said before her voice failed her, her eyes clenching shut.

"She may not have had the foresight to see just how badly her actions would affect everything, but still, she knowingly aided Rogers and look what happened, she helped give him the tool that would be used to nearly kill Tony...to almost kill her own godfather" she said slowly, her tone quieting down before she turned to look at Bruce.

"That'd be like me helping someone hurt you, or Uncle Jason"

Bruce moved his left arm over and around her shoulder, which made Abigail slowly lean over and rest her head on his as he rubbed her arm slowly.

He knew her feelings towards Steve Rogers, even before the events of Siberia or Leipzig, due to his involvement in Peggy Carter's decline in health. Intentional or not, Steve's frequent visits had caused her more harm than good, with Peggy slipping more and more into the past and unable to remember her family and loved ones. As well as the episodes it would cause, which in turn affected her physical health as well as mentally.

Her body began deteriorating and she got sicker and sicker, the estimation the doctors gave her family on how long she had left began drastically reducing due to this.

And even after Steve had been asked nicely, and later specifically told outright he was not allowed to visit Peggy due to her family's concerns, he still had done so several more times by either _ 'talking' _his way in past the nurses and staff, which some had later admitted had been an intimidating experience, or by simply going to see her unannounced, which led to questionable dilemmas over what to do.

Were they going to call the police and have them arrest Captain America, could they do that?

Not to mention the whole incident at Peggy's funeral...

Though looking at his goddaughter's expression, Bruce willed himself to keep his thoughts in the present.

"Ok, so here's what you're going to do," Bruce said as he stood up. "You're going to go take a shower, put on your pajamas and come and relax with the rest of us"

Abigail merely stared at him silently for a few seconds.

"_ You're _ telling me to relax….really"

Rolling his eyes lightly as he extended a hand to her. "I know it may seem somewhat hypocritical"

Taking the offered hand, she stood up and looked around to the various Iron Legion Armors spread about. "I was hoping to get a bit more done here"

"Penny got some of that hummus you and Garfield like" Bruce said causing her expression to waver. "And she also picked up some of those chocolate marshmallow rocky road cookies you like too"

"...Ok, you've talked me into it" Abigail said as she instantly turned back towards him, her expression lighter as Bruce smiled before they walked towards the exit.

"Oh, and Friday, could you send in the cleaning bots to sort out the mess here, please" Abigail said looking at the ceiling.

** _"Do you know how hard it is to clean scorch marks off the walls and ceilings"_ ** The A.I replied dryly.

"Oh come on Friday, I know you can direct them efficiently, you're just that good" Abigail replied with a wink.

Bruce could swear he could hear the A.I grumble under her breath before speaking up again.

** _"Cleaning crew on their way now, on a side note I'm sure Boss will be happy to design more difficult Iron Legion Drones for you in future if you're bored of wrecking these ones" _ **she said causing Abigail and Bruce to look at the ceiling with amusement.

"Cheers love, you're a lifesaver" Abigail replied as the two continued on from the training room.

"Also just letting you know too, Tony's going to get in contact again with Agent Ross tomorrow, as well as your sister to see if MI-13 can share any intel" Bruce said causing her to nod.

"Sounds like a plan"

As they continued down the halls, she spoke up once more. Something she'd been meaning to ask Bruce since they arrived.

"So, there's been a lot of news about rising gang activity in Gotham recently."

Bruce glanced at her and gave a small hum before replying.

"Just a group of punks running around causing trouble."

"It looked a bit more serious than that Uncle Bruce" Abigail said with concern, placing a hand on his arm.

"You know if you need help, all you have to do is ask" she continued genuinely.

Placing his hand on her shoulder he gave her a small smile. "I appreciate it, but trust me, I've got things under control"

Looking like she wanted to say more, but choosing to accept Bruce's words for now, she nodded and smiled back as the two made their way back through the compound in silence.

* * *

** _Several Hours Later_ **

It was now the early hours of the morning as Vision wandered through the kitchen area of the compound.

Having returned from Jason's house in Gotham to find the movie night winding down and most of the assembled group having already gone to bed she thus stayed up with the others till the rest of them retired as well for the evening.

As the hours ticked by, she found herself still thinking over everything, unable to relax, and had spent some more time conversing with Friday before falling into a contemplative silence for some time.

The sound of the fridge opening however brought her out of her thoughts and she turned to see Alfred standing there, he was wearing his pajamas and a robe.

"Good morning Ms Stark" he said as he pulled out the butter. "A bit early to be idling in the kitchen, wouldn't you say"

Checking the clock that hung in the kitchen, Vision saw that it was almost Four AM.

"I lost track of time" Vision said as she turned back to see Alfred placing the butter down before retrieving an unopened loaf of bread.

"You're up early as well" she commented, causing Alfred to give her a nod as he filled the stove top kettle with water, Vision knew he preferred using it when he could over the electric one due to personal preference and his opinion.

"I had an early night and woke up not too long ago, I knew I wouldn't be able to get to sleep so I thought an early start to the day would be better than lying in bed restlessly." Alfred said as he placed the kettle on the stove to heat.

"Would you like some tea, I'm making a fresh pot"

Vision thought it over for a moment before nodding as Alfred retrieved a tea pot from one of the cupboards

"Yes, thank you"

* * *

Alfred and Vision were now sitting opposite one another on two couches, a coffee table in between them.

The teapot sat beside a wooden chess board as the two traded moves. Alfred has a cup of earl grey tea with a slice of lemon which he'd added a single teaspoon of sugar to, it sat beside a plate which had previously held two pieces of toast with marmalade, but now only one remained.

Vision meanwhile also had a cup on her side which she'd filled with the same tea, foregoing the lemon and electing instead for half a teaspoon of honey.

The two made light conversation as the game went on, now onto their third as Alfred finished the second piece of toast and momentarily excused himself to wash and dry the plate before returning to the game.

Vision took slightly longer to finish her move as she held the pawn in her hand, staring at the board for several moments before Alfred spoke up, having just refilled his empty cup once more.

"Ms Stark, how long are we going to play this little game?" he asked softly, causing Vision to look up at him.

"You're growing tired of playing?"

Alfred shook his head lightly, taking a small sip from his cup before continuing.

"I'm not not speaking about the Chess. Which by the way, I know you've been letting me win" he said, giving her a pointed look.

Vision looked down bashfully before she replied.

"If you would like I could limit my higher computation functions so that we can-" she began before Alfred interrupted her.

"I'm talking about the fact that you obviously have something on your mind, and have since before I joined you this morning. If you'd like to, we can talk about it, though I can guess it has to do with the less than pleasant news we've all had"

Vision contemplated the offer as she looked down at the board once again.

"I spoke about it for some time with Mr Blood, though I'm still concerned. Upon hearing from Friday I experienced an anxiety attack, it was caused by the thought of the rogue faction of the Avengers returning, though specifically Steve Rogers and Wanda. Steve because of what happened in Siberia as well as the entire altercation as a whole, and how I know his return would no doubt cause my father emotional distress. And with Wanda…." she began before pausing, causing Alfred to continue the train of thought.

"You're worried about the dangers she presents to yourself." he said as he leaned back further on the couch. "Given her previous actions against you, I can't say I blame you"

"Not just myself, while yes I do have concerns and anxieties over her possibly using her abilities on me again. I also worry for the others who are now part of The Avengers, or affiliated with us. Ms Jones herself has suffered in the past due to mental manipulations, and despite her seemingly becoming immune to the effects of it after her previous altercation with Kilgrave, I worry that Wanda could still influence her, and I would not want her to have to go through that again" Vision said, looking up at Alfred with concern etched onto her features.

"Not to mention what could happen if she were to attempt to manipulate and control any of them in a similar way to how she unleashed The Hulk on Johannesburg. One could only imagine the destruction and loss of life that could occur if she were to manipulate one or a group of us like that again, to be then let loose on a civilian population" Vision continued, her expression and tone growing more and more worried as she spoke.

"And on a personal note, despite my growth in understanding and utilization with the Mind Stone. I still worry that she could incapacitate me again, similar to that day here with Clint." she began, her eyes shifting over to the floor.

"It wasn't even so much the act of pushing me through so many levels of concrete and steel, it didn't so much hurt me physically, but the feeling of having my entire being suddenly manipulated like that, the loss of form and control. I couldn't move and was buried so deep into the ground with some of the rubble falling on top of me and I couldn't do anything but lay there...feeling so utterly helpless...it was a terrible horrible experience and it still affects me, I've tried talking about it and it does ease my concerns, but then they seem to come back again at the most random of times, the memories and anxiety…the feeling of powerlessness…."

Vision was now starring once again down at the board, her eyes holding a haunted faraway look before she looked up at Alfred.

"You must think it's silly. With all of my abilities, and all of my friends who also possess such powers or skills, that I feel this way over the actions of one person, especially when Jessica went through a much longer ordeal with far worse actions committed against her"

"No, I don't think it's silly, nor do I find it amusing in any way" Alfred said gently, reaching over and placing his hand on top of hers.

"The experience you went through may have been brief as opposed to Ms Jones prolonged manipulation. But it doesn't invalidate your fears, it doesn't make you any less of a person that you feel this way. You should not have been attacked by someone who called herself your ally, or your friend. Ms Maximoff in her own warped sense of reality decided to attack you in such a manor for no good reason other than the fact that she thought she was in the right and was being held against her will, when all you were trying to do was look out for her own wellbeing in advising her to avoid the chance for another public incident"

"But I will agree with you on your other statement. You do have friends and allies who will support you no matter what. Try to remember that, Ms Stark that despite how bleak things may seem, you will always have people who will be here for you when you need them, and in some cases even when you think you don't" he finished with a small smile.

Vision tentatively returned the smile, which grew stronger after several moments, she placed her other hand on top of Alfred's in thanks as she nodded.

"Thank you Alfred, really it means a lot"

"No gratitude required Ms Stark, I was merely speaking the truth." Alfred said as he reached over to the teapot and refilled her cup.

"Now then, what was that you said before about limiting your higher computation functions" Alfed commented as he began setting up the Chess Board once again.

Vision couldn't help but stifle a small laugh as she reached for her now filled cup, as she took a sip and enjoyed the warmth that spread through her, both physically and mentally. She knew that, at least for the moment, everything was still going to be ok.

And as for Wanda and the _ Rogue Avengers _, she could worry about them at a later time and cross that particular bridge when need be.


	9. Video Conferences

**Ok! Here is chapter 9.**

**This took longer to get out than I had hoped, but here it is. **

**As for the organizations mentioned in this chapter, MI-13 and S.T.R.I.K.E are real Marvel organizations in the comics (the STRIKE acronym was used in the movie Captain America: Winter Soldier, but not in it's original proper organization, it was used for Brock Rumlow's unit.)**

**Also t****he character of Jennifer Blood some of you may recognize from my other stories 'Young Justice Dark' and 'The Sixth Titan' she belongs to me. **

* * *

**Avengers Compound**

The smell of food filled the kitchen area as Bruce Wayne poured himself a cup of coffee.

Jessica moved beside him and poured her own mug to the brim, still half asleep from being woken up by Happy who'd gone to pick her up at a time she deemed far too early.

Despite the fact she wanted to be present for the call did little to ease her annoyance.

Alfred was currently cooking up a large assortment of breakfast foods with help from Kara and Vision, who'd both insisted on helping despite his protests.

"So, what exactly is the deal with this agency, MI whatever" Jessica said after taking a liberal gulp from her mug, not flinching at the burning sensation of the black coffee as she turned to Bruce who had taken a small sip.

"MI-13" he corrected before motioning for her to join him away from the kitchen at the meeting table.

"It actually originated from another agency, S.T.R.I.K.E, the Special Tactical Reserve for International Key Emergencies" Bruce explained, causing Jessica to roll her eyes.

"What's with government agencies and stupid ass acronyms" she said before leaning back in her chair and allowing him to continue.

"STRIKE was originally co-founded by Peggy Carter a few years after SHIELD was formed. It was meant to be a European based equivalent, it continued operation till 2004 when it was officially disbanded and its responsibilities and duties were picked up by other agencies, the largest being MI-13 which was originally a smaller agency which had worked in conjunction with Strike, before it grew into the size it is today after Strike's disbandment. The acronym of Strike was later repurposed for a SHIELD unit led by Brock Rumlow, which turned out to be made up of mostly HYDRA agents" Bruce added before turning back to the topic at hand.

"MI-13 not only deals with counter terrorism operations, but also national and international security, military operations, and many other duties. One of said duties it carried over from its earlier days was dealing with supernatural, mystical, paranormal or anything considered out of the ordinary. This also came to include enhanced individuals and meta-human affairs"

Jessica nodded along, taking in the information before speaking up.

"So Constantine's sister is high up the chain then?"

Bruce nodded before picking up a tablet and accessed several files, making them appear on the large clear screen near the end of the table.

A headshot a young woman in her mid twenties appeared, she had bright green eyes and long voluminous hair that was red as blood.

"Huh, does she dye her hair that color?" Jessica asked as she inspected the picture.

"I'm sorry?" Bruce asked, turning to her.

"Just that Constantine's dad has blond hair like she does, and her cousin Marcia has blond hair, and that's a weird shade of red you don't see often" Jessica said before taking another sip from her mug.

"No, you see Jennifer isn't actually related to Abigail or her family biologically, she's the daughter of Jason Blood. Her biological mother died during childbirth, Zatanna was an old family friend of Jason's, as well as Jason being friends with her father Giovanni, she stepped in and helped raise Jennifer. Becoming one of her legal guardians and adopted mother, and brought her up as her daughter, which later meant Jennifer became Abigail's older sister"

"Jason was also friends with Peggy Carter back from before the War, knowing her since she was a teenager. And Peggy embraced Jennifer as part of the family, even if Zatanna hadn't been with John, she still would have considered Jennifer family. Over the years Peggy also helped mentor Jennifer, and when she graduated highschool early at age seventeen, she was handpicked by Colonel Frederick Harrison, an old friend of Peggy's and asked to join MI-13. She didn't want any nepotism, but did say she would join only if she was allowed an unbiased assessment of her skills before being accepted. She passed, and over the years not only carried out many high priority missions and assignments, but also was given proper military training and currently holds the Rank of Captain. In the organization she is the head of the Special Operations division among her other duties"

Jessica gave a look of acknowledgment as the picture had disappeared from the screen and she was scrolling through some of the files on the tablet.

"She's going to be contacting us shortly and we're going to go over the recent developments over Rogers" Bruce said as Jessica nodded and passed the tablet back.

"Don't worry" Bruce said with a small smile on his face. "She hates him too"

* * *

**London**

Everett Ross was currently walking through the facility the CIA were currently using in cooperation with the British government as part of several joint task force operations. Holding a tablet in hand as he went over several files, as he reached the office he was looking for, only for the door to open before he could knock.

Out stepped a young woman in her mid twenties, she was the same height as Everett with sandy blonde hair that was cut in line with her jaw, blue eyes and a lean figure hidden under a long sleeved dark grey t-shirt and long black pants and matching combat boots.

She had a weapons belt on and two thigh holsters as well as a pair of black half fingered gloves.

"Agent Ross" she greeted. "Can I help you?"

"Agent Weatherford, I just needed to talk to your boss" he replied to the British agent who nodded.

"Cathryn and I were just on our way out actually" said another voice, this one coming from within the room and like the agent Everett was speaking with, she too had a distinct London accent leaning on the posher side. Agent Weatherford stepped aside as her boss exited the office and Everett took in the sight of her.

When he first met her, he'd been rendered speechless for a few moments over her appearance, though he guessed that was common.

Jennifer Blood had caucasian skin tone, long voluminous hair that went down past her shoulder blades and was red as blood, and bright green eyes.

Her most eye-catching feature however was the fact that she was six feet and nine inches tall, towering over both Everett and Cathryn who were both five foot seven. She was also very muscular, her body rippling with large protruding muscles that could be seen even in the dark grey suit she was wearing and buttoned up navy blue shirt underneath.

Her height and physique put many to shame.

Though this did little to ruin Jennifer Blood's beautiful features as she smiled at Everett, her lips adorned with a light red lipstick.

"Shall I go ahead and get the car for you Ma'am?" Cathryn asked, her hands behind her back as she stood by her side dutifully.

"Yes, thank you Cathryn. I'll walk and talk with Agent Ross here on the way out, we'll take the lift up to the ground floor" Jennifer said as Cathryn nodded before walking ahead.

"Now Everett, what was it you wanted to discuss?" Jennifer asked as they began walking at a more leisurely pace.

"I contacted Colonel Rhodes yesterday, in regards to the various rumors that have been floating around, specifically to do with Steve Rogers and his associates" Everett said to which Jennifer nodded.

"Yes, I was informed of that. I'm going to be speaking with them when I get back to my office at MI-13." she informed him as they turned down a corner and continued.

Nodding as they walked, Everett seemed to mull over his thoughts, Jennifer glanced at him for a moment as they approached an elevator.

Stepping in, Jennifer hit the ground level button and stepped back as the two leaned against the hand railing.

Silence overtook them for several seconds before Jennifer spoke once more.

"I'm going to be honest with you, I know you aren't aware of this, or don't like to consider it, but I'm going to say it anyway. I know that Rogers and the others are hiding in Wakanda" Jennifer said seriously, causing Everett to turn to her sharply.

"I don't-" he began only for her to raise a hand and silence him.

"I know there's no concrete evidence yet, at least any that I'll bring to the UN's attention or the various agencies looking for Rogers. I also know that you consider T'challa a friend and wouldn't want to think of him as lying to you about this" Jennifer continued, looking down into his eyes.

"But if it does come to light that he is giving them asylum, this won't look good for Wakanda on the international stage, not to mention with T'challa already being publically in support of the Accords. His little stunt in Korea could have been a lot worse if you hadn't been there, not to mention how his reveal of Wakanda's technological advances didn't go down as smoothly as he predicted" Jennifer commented on.

T'challa's decision to reveal Wakanda's resources and technology to the world hadn't been met with the widespread acclaim and acceptance he had been hoping for, quite the reverse in fact. With many countries condemning them for remaining silent and in hiding, while the rest of their continent was besieged by foreigners and slavers, not to mention the more recent historical events, as well as their potential life saving technology being hoarded and denied to the world for so long.

And now they just came out and announced it, expecting acceptance and reverence.

They had been in for quite the surprise at the negative outpouring of protests and critical persecution by the public.

T'challa was still trying to smooth things over and go forward with his outreach plans, but it had not been going anywhere nearly as good as he had hoped.

Everett looked slightly uncomfortable at the reminder.

He had warned T'challa that he personally thought it was a bad idea, but the young king had been adamant about his plans, and thus Everett had gone along with it.

"If what you're implying turns out to be true, and again this is an _ if, _then yes there will be serious repercussions. I'd like to think that in the long run that Rogers and the rest of them will get what's coming to them" Everett said as the elevator reached the ground floor and opened, the two of them stepping out into the main lobby and passing several other agents and making their way to the entrance.

As they exited the facility Cathryn was already waiting with Jennifer's car, giving her a thankful nod she turned to Everett.

"About what I said, you may want to try looking into it yourself. If you really consider T'challa a friend or at the very least, an ally. You might be able to convince him that turning them over is the right thing to do"

Everett didn't answer, but looked contemplative as she stepped into the back seat of her car, giving him a final nod before driving off.

As they drove down the street Jennifer unlocked the Stark Pad that Cathryn had passed back to her. Reaching into her jacket pocket she retrieved a henri wintermans cigar, lighting it up and taking a draw from it as she flicked through several documents before stopping on several that she was looking for.

Pressing a button, the files elevated from the screen into holographic projections, showing several pictures and pages regarding Wanda Maximoff.

Narrowing her eyes at the appearance of the fugitive, she also opened another file which was focused on Scott Lang.

Taking another draw she leaned back in her seat, looking at the documents with contemplation as they drove along.

* * *

** _Avengers Compound_ **

The group was now seated around the meeting table, with extra chairs having been brought in for the added people who'd joined them for the video call.

Penny was sitting near Tony and eating a bowl of cereal with a plate of waffles on the side for after, her eyes shifting to Tony who was talking to Bruce until the screen at the end of the table lit up revealing the face of Jennifer to the assembled group.

_ "Good morning everyone, although for me it's the afternoon, but time differences can be a pain to remember" _ she grumbled the last bit.

_ "I'm sure you're all aware of this meeting's purpose, so let's get right into it. Following up on Rhodey's news, I've compiled a list of US Senators, government officials and people with considerable enough influence to make an impact on the decisions regarding Rogers and his merry band here" _she said as several pictures came up on the screen and spread out across it as she continued speaking.

_ "That's not to mention several figures who are less public regarding their stance on the subject. As you all know, Rogers public support is still rather vocal, despite being the minority in the ratio of people who support the new established Avengers, and the affiliated teams and allies you've put together since Rogers left the US" _

"Let me guess, Amanda Waller is one of the silent figures in all this" Bruce said, though his tone was that of a statement of a fact.

He already knew she had her hands in this affair, it wasn't a surprise at all for anyone who knew her, or even knew of her.

Jennifer nodded to him in response.

Bruce turned to look at the others before continuing.

"Ever since Rogers was defrosted she's tried to get her hands on him in one way or another. She tried pushing for his body to be declared property of the US government, as well as several proposed experimental trials in recreating Erskine's Super Soldier Serum, luckily all of these were not approved, but I know she never gave up on the idea" Bruce said as the others took in his words.

_ "Yes, she's made a motion already in regards to having them pardoned, but it's clear that Rogers and Maximoff are her main priorities. I've got it on good authority that Waller has also been looking into experimentation on Maximoff in the hopes of reproducing her powers in other test subjects" _Jennifer continued getting severa alarmed looks.

Penny turned and saw Vision stiffen before looking down at her lap and letting out a quiet breath, a few seconds later looking back up with composure.

Jessica turned to look around at Tony before speaking up "You said that was unlikely, someone copying her powers into others. Are you sure?"

_ "I'll let Lena take over this particular subject" _Jennifer said nodding in Lena's direction.

Putting her coffee down and clearing her throat, Lena leaned forward and rested her hands on the table before speaking.

"At Tony's request, Marcia and I combed through every document and piece of data we could in regards to the experiments and processes she was put through by Strucker and Dr List, despite the main files being deleted, we were able to pull up some minor ones from other HYDRA bases as well as what was compiled after she joined The Avengers" Lena began.

"From what we've theorized, as well as having Vision assist us by letting us analyze the Mind Stone in conjunction with our research. We came to the conclusion that in order to completely replicate Maximoff's powers in another living being, they would need both the Mind Stone itself, as well as Maximoff. Or at the very least, large enough samples of her blood or tissue from her body"

"But even with this, the success rate would be varied, as not all the test subjects would be likely to live, the process would be incredibly taxing and harmful to their bodies"

"But what about if they just had Maximoff?" Penny asked, speaking up and getting everyone's attention.

"What if they just had her by herself, without the Mind Stone, or if they were able to get large enough quantities of her DNA to use on test subjects?"

Lena nodded in response to Penny's question before replying.

"If they were just able to use Maximoff on her own, the results would again vary, but we've theorized that they would only be able to produce watered down versions of her abilities in others. So far more limited telepathic and telekinetic abilities, as well as greatly reduced energy projection if any at all."

"Well, that doesn't seem so bad" Garfield said, speaking up as he rejoined the group from the kitchen, carrying a cup of tea and an apple before sitting back down.

"No it doesn't, but imagine if they had five people with these abilities, or ten or fifty" Lena said firmly. "The powers would be limited compared to Maximoff herself, but if they copied them to a large enough group it would be possible to combine their abilities to greater effect."

_ "Lena's right, they could be used to create infiltration and reconnaissance teams, covert assassination units and more, the possibilities of using her powers in such a way is nothing to scoff at when put up against ordinary humans or unprotected beings" _ Jennifer said seriously.

Silence filled the area as they digested her words till Lena spoke up once more.

"So, what about their _ 'hiding place' _, if we can even call it that"

_ "Well, we all know they're hiding in Wakanda which makes things ….somewhat tricky, diplomatically speaking" _

Abigail, who was seated between Rachel and Dick, let out a snort as she finished a mouthful from the stack of pancakes she was eating, and turned to the screen.

"I still think you should just roll up to the Wakandan border with the rest of the bloody Hellsing organization and demand they hand them over"

Jennifer pinched the bridge of her nose before smiling wryly as she replied.

_ "Firstly, I do wish you'd stop comparing MI-13 to the anime Hellsing. Secondly baby sister, it's not that simple, at least for me. Yes, I do know exactly where they are, but with T'Challa having signed the Accords and being the king of a foreign nation, a nation which has recently revealed it is a much more powerful and lucrative one than previously known by the world at large, this entire situation has to be handled delicately." _Jennifer said before rolling her eyes and letting out a sigh.

_ "Although trust me, I have thought of just getting Uncle Bruce, Dick, Kara and a few of you to just stealthily bypass their borders and drag Rogers and the rest of them back kicking and screaming, maybe roughing them up a bit in the process. I personally would take great pleasure in seeing that" _

"Let me know if that becomes a serious offer" Bruce said only half jokingly as Jennifer chuckled.

"What do you think of T'Challa?" Tony said speaking up after having spent most of the conversation in silence, taking in the conversation.

Jennifer bobbed her head from side to side momentarily, thinking over her words before speaking.

_ "I think that in regards to Rogers and the Rogues he bit off more than he could chew when offering them asylum. I personally think he just offered Barnes long term refuge in the country, and Rogers took that as an open invitation that T'Challa's offer extended to them, especially after breaking them out of the Raft before they could stand trial. I think however he may have come to his senses somewhat afterwards however, as you're aware they were spotted various times within a three month period after the initial breakout from the Raft interfering in foreign situations including an MI-13 operation which was almost compromised when they decided to interfere. After those initial three months however they dropped off the map completely" _

"You think T'Challa put them on house arrest?" Tony pondered, taking a sip from his mug as Jennifer nodded.

_ "I think he didn't want to risk bringing Wakanda under any more scrutiny, and thus told them if they wanted continued assistance, it would only be in an asylum capacity and not allowing them use their countries resources to go galavanting around the world getting into any more trouble. T'Challa, if he's beginning to see the situation more clearly now, may decide to argue if the truth about their whereabouts is brought up, that he was keeping them in one place in order to stop them causing trouble elsewhere and try and twist the situation to reflect him in a positive light" _

_ "I feel T'Challa, while his intentions may be good deep down, he's shown himself to be brash and arrogant, temperamental, immature and I think he wasn't ready to be appointed king nor ready to be such a prominent figure on the world stage. I had dealings with his father King T'Chaka and met him on more than one occasion, and while I can't speak on his past completely, he was much more reserved and collected individual, no doubt from his far greater years on the throne and experience dealing with foreign policy and international relations, even with their countries isolation. I personally believe he should temporarily step down for a time until he is in a better shape to lead his country and deal with international relations, as well as the additional new responsibilities that come with leaving their isolation" _

"That might be the best option, things haven't really gone as well as he thought when he decided to announce to the world how advanced their country really was" Rhodey said before snorting.

"Though how he thought it would go down on a positive note with cheerful celebration I have no idea" he added, shaking his head.

_ "Yeah, one thing I wanted to get up to speed on, how are things with Barton and Lang's families?" _Jennifer asked with interest.

As they did Bruce excused himself to go and pour himself another cup of coffee, the conversation continuing on in the background.

* * *

Bruce and Tony were now seated in Tony's lab, a few hours having passed since their morning call. They were now engaged in another, this time the face of Kate Kane was onscreen as they relayed the earlier news.

_ "Damn, that really sucks" _she said reclining in a chair on the screen.

_ "Just when you think Rogers won't be a problem, you get this bombshell" _

"It hasn't been an exactly pleasant twenty four hours, that's for sure" Tony said as he collapsed down on a couch he'd placed in the lab, quickly resting his head on Bruce's lap.

The other billionaire rolled his eyes before turning to his cousin.

"How are things in Bludhaven?" Bruce asked.

Before she could answer however, Tony spoke up.

"I still can't believe it, you think when people go on vacation they go somewhere relaxing or fun, you go to Bludhaven and take on a bunch of drug cartels" Tony said, causing Kate to roll her eyes.

_ "It's a working vacation of sorts. Though I'm more concerned about what's going on back home" _ Kate said, turning to Bruce. _ "The rising gang activity" _

Bruce let out a grumble under his breath before speaking up.

"You're the second person to bring that up since yesterday. I have it handled" he said, though Kate didn't look convinced.

"What's the deal with those guys anyway?" Tony said, still resting on Bruce's lap. "I haven't been following it as much as I probably should have, but I've had a lot on my plate"

Bruce let out a low sigh, running a hand through his hair and leaning back on the couch. "They call themselves The Mutants, and in the past few months they've been growing in number. They're a bunch of teenagers and young adults, all uniting under a mysterious leader who's been riling them up, committing muggings and robberies, property damage and assaults. They seem to have no specific goals apart from random acts of violence"

"I've been tracking their leader, but he's mostly stayed underground, keeping out of sight except for the occasional online video or ones he sends into the news, never a clear enough image to identify him though, always cloaked in darkness or out of frame"

Bruce's expression hardened as his hands squeezed into fists.

_ "I know you still get territorial over Gotham and everything, I can get a bit like that too. But seriously, I can come back early if you need me there" _ Kate said genuinely.

"No, you're doing important work in Bludhaven and the surrounding cities, I've got a handle on this" Bruce said seriously.

Kate gave him a look for a few seconds before sighing again and nodding.

_ "Ok, fine. If you say so, but just know I'm just a call away." _ she said before a beeping sound came from near where Kate was sitting causing her to instantly get up and check a monitor.

_ "Gotta go, just got an alert I have to go take care of" _

"Be careful," Bruce said to which Kate smirked back at him.

_ "I should be telling you that" _she snarked good naturedly before turning to Tony.

_ "Try keeping him out of trouble" _

"I feel I'm a few decades too late on that one Katie" Tony said as he sat up.

This got a smile from her before the call ended.

"So, about that upgrade I was proposing for your car-" Tony began before a vibrating sound came from a nearby workbench.

"Can I get one minute of peace" he added sarcastically before getting up and walking over to the phone.

"Anyone important?" Bruce asked after several seconds as Tony turned back towards him.

"The President…" Tony said, still staring down at the phone and running his free hand down his face, letting out a tired groan before looking back at Bruce.

"Maybe I should take a vacation"


	10. Reminiscing

**Hi everyone :D**

**Finally got this chapter out, hopefully the longer length will make up for the delay.**

**This chapter has several set ups for future events, both with Tony, Vision, Bruce (Wayne), the Titans and their allies. There was a Vision and Tony scene I was going to include that ended up being cut, but I'll be including it in chapter 11.**

**I enjoyed writing this chapter (though some parts I did have to go back over a few times) and hope you enjoy reading it. **

**In some MCU news, Agents of SHIELD ended it's seventh and final series this month. I am a bit behind (still on season 5) but intend to do some binge watching and catch up.**

**I'll say this right now, there will be some Agents of SHIELD content in some of the coming chapters (as well as references to it)**

**If you are not a fan, or have not watched the series. I wouldn't worry too much, I will try and make it easy to follow for those of you who haven't seen it. (The 'present' of the story will incorporate some of the 4th season of Agents of SHIELD, which I'm tinkering a bit to have it line up here timeline wise)**

**Also, yeah If you've been on the fence about the series, or haven't heard of it before, I'd suggest giving it a watch. The show may start slow for some people, but it really got me hooked and the way some of the episodes/plotlines interweave with the films is a great treat.**

**(for instance...ever wonder where Fury got the Hellicarrier from in 'Age of Ultron' ? XD)**

**But yeah, as I said if you haven't seen the series. Don't worry, I'll try and work it in/explain enough that you shouldn't be too confused.**

**Also DC wise, have you checked out the Snyder Cut trailer released on the DC youtube channel (unveiled at the Fandome event along with the new Wonder Woman trailer, the new trailer for Matt Reeves the Batman and other trailers too, including James Gunn's Suicide Squad film, which looks like it's going to be great! I know he'll be able to bring the same great directing he had with Guardians to Suicide Squad)**

**Anyway, I personally fell in love with the Justice League Snyder Cut trailer, it looks like it's going to be leagues (and yes pun intended) above the film we got. Don't get me wrong, there were certain elements I enjoyed in the 2017 film, but I feel those were the remnants and scenes/parts that Zack Snyder filmed (before the reshoots)**

**But I'm pumped for the 4 hours long (yes, the full Snyder Cut is going to be 4 hours long, and released as a mini series on HBO, though I'm guessing DVD and Bluray released will either combine it or maybe split them into two discs) film he originally wanted us to see.**

**And Titans (tv series) wise, we're apparently getting Scarecrow in season 3, as well as Jason Todd becoming The Red Hood! And Barbara Gordan!**

**(Phew! Sorry for the tangents there, I just have been re-watching those trailers earlier several times while finishing up this chapter XD)**

**Anyway, on with the chapter :D  
**

* * *

** _Gotham City_ **

** _The Batcave_ **

Bruce walked down the steps to the lower level of the Batcave, carrying two mugs of steaming hot coffee as he approached Tony who was over by the large computer terminal and monitors, tapping away as he input the data and plans for the Batmobile upgrades.

It was now Monday and the day after their video meeting with Jennifer regarding the Rogues, Tony and Bruce had flown back to Gotham for the day and intended to spend some time unwinding in the manor and cave.

Bruce was planning to go out on patrol later in the evening, intending to sort out some of the Mutant Gang members.

"Got off the phone again with the president" Tony said as he nodded in thanks, accepting the offered cup from Bruce and taking a hefty sip, moaning out as he swallowed the fresh brewed blend.

"And?" Bruce inquired, taking a seat beside him.

"We're meeting in D.C. in two days' time" Tony replied as he saved the file he was working on and turned to his friend.

"I'm still a bit surprised at his stance on Rogers, I mean he was historically a major Cap fanboy and now…" Tony trailed off, taking another sip as Bruce nodded.

"Yeah, but given everything that's happened it's not unthinkable. Rogers caused several international incidents on foreign soil, along with his cohorts, as well as breaking them out of The Raft. All while using the name _ Captain America _ and wearing the flag as a costume, Ellis had to do major damage control over everything that happened, more so than what the public has been made aware of, that would have dampened any remaining admiration he had for Rogers" Bruce said as he placed his own mug down near the console.

Tony nodded as he looked down to his lap for several seconds, mulling over Bruce's words before his gaze returned to the monitor.

"Penny's probably back at the compound by now, I'll give her a call and let her know when I'll be back"

"Her friends were coming over tonight weren't they?" Bruce asked to which Tony nodded.

"Yeah, as if I didn't have enough young people taking up space in the compound" Tony said with a sigh.

"Oh come on, you love them" Bruce said, causing his friend to roll his eyes.

"I _ tolerate _them," Tony joked back.

_ ~0~ _

Penny was making herself a snack in the kitchen along with Garfield who was making his own plate, when the screen across from the dining table came to life, showing Tony and Bruce in the Batcave.

"See, I knew this is where they'd be," Tony said before shaking his head. "Eating me out of house and home Bruce"

"Hey man, you said make ourselves at home" Garfield replied with a grin, causing Tony to roll his eyes.

"Yeah, but I better not catch you shedding on any of the carpets again, the last thing I need is green fur everywhere"

Garfield almost choked on the sip of his drink, managing to clear his throat and turning to Penny.

"It was one time! I was in the form of a dog, and it was a really comfy carpet-"

"Next time I'll make you clean it up yourself, Animorphs" Tony said just as Lena and Marcia walked in to join them.

Marcia having come over from England that morning using the magic portal door her cousin had in Titans Tower.

"Great, I was hoping to talk to you two as well. I'll be heading back a bit later this evening than I originally thought, so would you mind making sure nothing happens with the kids at the compound while I'm away?" Tony asked.

"Mr Stark, we don't need babysitters" Penny said, causing Tony to give her a pointed look.

"Should I go through my list alphabetically or chronologically as to why I disagree with that statement?"

Penny's cheeks reddened at his words, causing Garfield to snicker.

"And don't you start, you might be nineteen now Garfield but remember I have tons of embarrassing footage of you which would back up the argument that you need watching as well" Tony remarked, causing Garfield to immediately clam up.

"Don't worry Uncle Tony, we'll make sure nothing too crazy happens" Marcia said as she put the kettle on, intent on making some tea.

"Yeal, we'll keep things under control here" Lena added as she moved over to the fridge.

A small smirk graced Tony's lips as he folded his arms and gave them a mocking look of contemplation.

"Hmm, though on second thought maybe I should have asked Dick and Kori to stay instead of going out for the evening. If I recall, you two got up to plenty of trouble when you were teenagers as well, like the time you tried to build hover boots"

"Hey! We didn't try, we succeeded...it was controlling the power output that was the problem...and the overheating problem…" Lena grumbled the last part to herself.

"Oh or when Zatanna called me saying you two almost blew up Marcia's home workshop, making a miniature grenade launcher disguised as a pen!" Tony said pointing at them.

Penny and Garfield both turned to see the scientists both stumbling over their words.

"It was working perfectly fine...till the pen became jammed and one went off in the chamber" Marcia said adjusting her glasses.

"Yeah, and blew off both your eyebrows and set your coat on fire, you're lucky you didn't injure yourselves more permanently" Tony said.

"Why did you make a grenade launching pen?" Penny asked with interest, causing Marcia to avert her gaze and mumble quietly.

"Sorry?"

"We'd been...watching a lot of James Bond movies" Lena admitted, trying to hide her own reddened cheeks.

"Aunt Zatanna was mad because Uncle Tony had been 'encouraging us to push the boundaries' in regards to our experiments" Marcia said, turning back to Tony with a smirk of her own.

"Hey! In my defense, I didn't think you'd be making freaking grenades the size of grains of rice!" Tony shot back before dragging a hand down his face and sighing.

"Anyway enough reminiscing. I should be back around ten o'clock, have fun kid" Tony said to Penny before the video disconnected.

A few minutes passed as the group continued eating and assembling their own snacks before Penny got a message on her phone.

"Happy just picked up MJ and Ned, they're on their way" Penny said with a smile.

"Soooo" Garfield said after a moment. "How are things with MJ?"

"O-Oh, well uh everything's fine, we had a great Academic Decathlon drill the other day and-" Penny began before Garfield cut her off.

"You know what I meant," he said, folding his arms, smiling at her knowingly.

"What is it?" Lena asked with confusion.

"She likes Michelle," Garfield remarked.

"Oh, I see. And I'm guessing from Penny's nervous expression, Michelle isn't aware of this?" Lena asked nodding in her direction.

"N-No...I haven't been able to work up the nerve to ask her out or anything" Penny said shyly.

"Which I find strange, I mean you've known each other for a while now, plus she even knows your secret" Garfield said, causing Lena's eyes to widen.

"She knows your Spider-Girl?"

Penny nodded softly. "Yeah, she kinda figured it out...and maybe caught me off guard while I was in costume"

"Well at least that's one thing you won't have to worry about discovering after you start dating, trust me that can be problematic, and this is coming from personal experience here" Lena remarked.

"I just worry," Penny said before her expression fell.

"What happens if I work up the nerve to ask her out on a date, and she turns me down. What happens then to our friendship? I don't want to lose her as a friend, and-and-"

Penny closed her mouth and let out a breath before picking up her plate.

"I'm sorry, I-I don't really feel like talking about this right now" she said before making her way from the kitchen.

"Penny-" Garfield tried calling out, only for Lena to place a hand on his shoulder.

"Just let her go, she'll talk about it when she's ready" the older woman said, causing the green haired teen to look in the direction Penny had left in and sigh.

_ ~0~ _

Lena and Marcia had set up their equipment in the space Tony had partitioned off for them in his own lab.

Unlike Stark Tower where they had their own lab to themselves, despite not being there on a full time basis.

But they still had more than enough room and resources at their disposal for their current work.

"Jessica and Vision wanted to see if we could just go over the Maximoff data one more time" Lena commented as Marca was using one of the large clear screens to bring up seperate data.

"Sure we can give a look over later" Marcia said as she took off her coat and unbuttoned her vest, taking off the loose tie from her neck.

As she began unbuttoning her shirt, her phone began vibrating on the desk nearby, quickly picking it up she answered.

"Hello...oh Happy, ok sure we're in the lab, yeah sure bring them down that'd be fine" Marcia said before disconnecting the call.

"What did he say?" Lena asked peering up from the tablet she was typing on.

"Happy's here with Penny's friends. They wanted to come and say hi"

"Oh that's right, you haven't met them before" Lena said as Marcia nodded.

Unlike Lena, Marcia hadn't met Michelle or Ned face to face before, having only spoken to them once when Penny had called her on the phone.

Looking over at Lena, a small grin came over Marcia's features, causing the dark haired scientists to look at her with confusion.

"What?"

Marcia's grin grew into a teeth filled smile. "Want to have some fun?"

~0~

Michelle and Ned both walked down the hall towards the lab space, having been to the compound enough times to know where to go, Friday allowing them access.

Penny had gone to freshen up and take a quick shower, and said she'd be joining them shortly.

However as they approached the lab, they began hearing what sounded like a heated exchange, raised voices reaching their ears the closer they got.

When they entered the lab they saw Lena grappling with Marcia, the blonde was grabbed by Lena with both hands on her arms.

"You're gonna pay for what you did Constantine!" Lena shouted, pushing Marcia along the desk and knocking items onto the floor before slamming her back into the end of the desk.

The two teens starred at the altercation, Ned looking at MJ silently wondering what to do.

"You bitch! I warned you what would happen if you tried sleeping with my girlfriend!" Lena exclaimed, causing Marcia to give her a sneer.

"Well maybe if you did a good enough job, she wouldn't need someone else to satisfy her Luthor!"

Lena let out a scream and grabbed a nearby precision screwdriver and before the two onlookers could react, swung it around and stabbed it up into Marcia's right arm, cutting through her shirt sleeve.

"ARRGGHH!" Marcia screamed out, falling to the floor clutching her now injured arm as her eyes screwed shut.

"What the fuck!" Ned exclaimed, backing away.

"Oh shit…" Michelle said, staring with wide eyes.

"Happy come quick, they're trying to kill each other!" Ned screamed down the hall.

Before they could say anymore however, they noticed something.

Marcia's screaming had shifted and she was now laughing, her eyes still clenched shut as she stood up and waved in their direction.

"Ahahahaha! Y-You should have seen your faces" she said before descending into laughter once more.

Lena's expression now held more reserved amusement, stifling a snort of her own as she composed herself.

"I'm sure Friday has it recorded. We're sorry for that, but Marcia couldn't help herself and wanted to prank you two" Lena explained.

"B-But your arm!" Ned stuttered out pointing at the screwdriver.

"Oh that, don't worry it's nothing" Marcia said as she rolled her right sleeve up, showing that the screwdriver had gone into her bicep under the skin and gone straight up, showing the bulge from underneath her skin where it was going along the bicep.

Marcia proceeded to pull the screwdriver out with no signs of pain or discomfort, and Michelle stepped closer to see that it wasn't covered in blood, but a strange pinkish fluid.

Michelle was about to inquire about it, when Marcia picked up a scalpel and proceeded to press it into her right wrist and draw it upward making a line going up her bicep before placing it back down on the desk.

The two teenagers watched as Marcia reached over with her left hand and proceeded to pull on the incision, the skin coming off in a large section before it tore away from the remaining skin, revealing a metallic silver underneath.

As Marcia continued to pull off sections of the skin, she also took off her shirt, wearing a light blue colored bra underneath before Lena tossed her an aerosol can.

She then sprayed the contents of the can onto her arm and the remaining small portions of skin seemingly fizzled and melted, Marcia then wiped it down with a cloth, revealing her entire right arm was a metal cybernetic construct, including a portion of her shoulder.

"Woah…" Ned said in awe, having gotten over his momentarily embarrassment of seeing the older woman in a state of undress.

"Can I uh…" Michelle began, motioning to her arm with her own hand, which Maria nodded at the unspoken request.

Reaching over, she ran her hand up along the metallic limb slowly feeling the various sections and joints.

"Hey sorry I took a little longer to-woah!"

The four present turned to see Penny standing there in a comfortable set of clothes staring at them with wide eyes, her hair still damp from the shower.

She walked into the lab with a look of shock and awe.

"You didn't know about this?" Michelle asked, causing Penny to shake her head numbly, her gaze inspecting the limb with interest.

"I knew she had some kind of accident a few years ago, but I didn't know the whole story" Penny said as Macia moved back to the desk and reached into a bag she'd brought.

"Well it's not something I talk about so readily with people I don't know very well. Plus even after getting to know each other, we don't see each other on a regular basis, so it's understandable we haven't really discussed it" Marcia said as she took out a smaller pouch, unrolling it and taking out a brown black stemmed tobacco pipe, reaching into a side pocket of the pouch and pulling out some tobacco as she began packing it.

"What happened? I mean she said it was some kind of accident" Ned said nodding towards Penny. "But...damn…"

Marcia lit her pipe with a match and took a few puffs, allowing the tobacco to catch properly before exhaling, however Lena spoke up first catching the teen's attention.

"Do you three remember the attack on the L-Corp building a few years back in National City?" the CEO asked, causing them to nod.

"Yeah, it was on the news, they got away with a ton of tech" Michelle said leaning against the desk beside Penny.

"Yes they did, and it took us almost two months to retrieve it all" Lena added with annoyance, before crossing her arms and continuing.

"It was from a group called Intergang, which my brother had been dealing with in the past, supplying them with weaponry and hardware. After I took over control of L-Corp however, I of course stopped all dealings with such groups and other illicit dealings, which they weren't too happy about. But they bided their time, and chose to attack when they knew Supergirl was out of the city"

"During the attack, I was rendered unconscious by an explosion during the break in, and I was taken to a private lab in the building, one that only I and a few select people, Marcia included, have access too. They needed my biometrics to access it, after opening the lab they began transporting all the tech and gear, the other levels of the building had been sealed off and many of the employees had already gotten out and alerted the authorities"

"However I was at L-Corp that day as well, Lena and I were going to have lunch that day when the attack happened," Marcia said, taking over from Lena as she continued.

"I'd been a floor below them, and accessing one of the emergency fair exits, made my way upstairs to that level. I was luckily able to avoid being caught, but they were more focussed on getting the stolen tech out of there, using zip lines and trucks on the street level. By the time I made it to the lab there was only one Intergang member there who was watching over Lena's unconscious body, and I heard him receive word that they'd loaded all the gear away and that he could kill her, as they didn't need her anymore."

"I ran in, admittedly not the smartest course of action, and tried to stop him. I'd been taught some self defence in the past, and got a few good licks in, but he managed to overpower me and knock me aside"

Marcia internally thought back to how grateful she was for Jason and Bruce having given her self defence lessons.

"I got up just in time to see him throw a grenade disc in my direction, it went off in mid-air however and I was able to turn my body and avoid most of the damage, but the explosion took out my left eye" Marcia explained pointing to her eye.

"As I was on the ground in pain, he threw another two of the discs onto the ceiling, running out as they went off. I managed to roll out of the way partially, but the falling debris pinned me down and completely buried my right arm, as well as a piece of rebar piercing my right lung" she said before looking back at the teens.

"Luckily enough I had a knife on me. Not my own decision mind you, but my cousin always was a bit worried about me, so she gave me a specially made knife, I guess you could liken it to a bowie or hunting knife and enchanting it into a small bracelet, so that I could discreetly have it on me at all times" Marcia explained before raising her left hand to stop any questioning.

"And yes, before you ask I could have pulled the knife on the Intergang member, but it was the heat of the moment, and I'm pretty sure he would have just shot me if I'd pulled a knife that size on him" she said before lowering her hand.

"So you...you cut off your own arm!?" Penny exclaimed, her tone a mix of concern and shock.

"The ceiling had become unstable, I could see it wasn't going to hold for much longer, and Lena was still unconscious. If I'd waited even a minute longer, it would have come down on her. So I did what I had to do" Marcia said firmly.

~0~

_ Groaning out in pain, Marcia looked over to see Lena still face down on the floor unmoving. _

_ Her left eye was inflamed with pain from the initial grenade blast, and she knew she'd been blinded, her left eyelid clenched shut as she could feel the blood pouring from it. _

_ Looking down with her remaining eye, she saw the source of the pain which was flaring through her chest, a metal piece of rebar was sticking out of her right side. _

_ Glancing to the side, she saw her entire right arm was buried under the rubble. She knew it was broken in multiple places, and a slight tug confirmed what she already knew. _

_ The arm was keeping her pinned on the floor. _

_ A crackling sound from above caused her to look up, and she saw the ceiling crumbling further to her left, over towards the rest of the lab and the exit. _

_ And Lena's still form. _

_ She knew it wouldn't be long till the rest of the ceiling followed and buried them both alive. _

_ "L-Lena!" she cried out as much as she could, her chest aching and throbbing from the rebar, she knew it was best to save her breath, but in this situation she didn't have many options. _

_ "Lena!" she cried out again, only for the dark haired woman to remain still. _

_ Desperately looking around, Marcia's eye caught sight of the bracelet around her left wrist. _

_ Her gaze locked onto it as her expression dropped, her eye flickered back to her arm for a moment before looking back to the bracelet. _

_ A piece of concrete crumbled away from the ceiling and fell down, crashing into the floor in between the two, causing Marcia to shield her eye from the dust. _

_ Taking another look at the ceiling she could see the cracks beginning to lengthen and widen. _

_ Looking back at Lena once more, before turning to the bracelet, she knew what she had to do. _

_ Palming the small charm on the bracelet, there was a flash of white light and suddenly Marcia was gripping an intimidatingly sized white bowie knife with a matte black handle, the blade itself has a sharp point and edge, while also having several serrated sections. _

_ Flipping the blade in her palm so it faced down, Marcia looked back at her pinned arm, her breathing increasing as she didn't lose focus, her eye focusing on the section she knew was about to be separated. _

_ And with a yell she brought the knife down. _

~0~

"After I removed the arm entirely, I managed to drag Lena to the nearby elevator and hit the ground floor. I tied her coat around my shoulder and tightened it with a belt as best I could. When we reached the ground floor, the emergency services were there dealing with people who'd been affected by the break in, and when they saw us they rushed over just as I lost consciousness" Marcia explained, her eyes staring at the floor before she looked up.

"When I woke up in the hospital a few days had passed, I'd had my shoulder cleaned up, and they'd removed the remains of my left eye. I also found out that they had to perform a pneumonectomy, removing my right lung after the physical trauma of being impaled and impacted as it had, it also had become infected" she explained before glancing over at Lena.

"And wipe that look of your face, we've been over this a million times, I don't blame you for what happened"

Penny and the others turned to see Lena looking at Marcia with a saddened expression.

"I know it's just...I wish things had gone differently that day" Lena said with remorse.

"I don't regret what I did, it saved your life" Marcia said as she walked over, putting her pipe down and placing her left hand on Lena's shoulder.

"And that's worth more than a bloody arm…" she said before turning back to the teenagers.

"And no, that was not meant to be a pun"

"Anyway, while I was recovering I brought up some designs I'd already had been working on in the past, and did some modifications on them before having Lena assist in implementing them"

"The arm" Penny said, causing Marcia to nod.

"Though initially I had just the port installed onto the remains of my shoulder blade, replacing some of the bone there in the process. I also had the cybernetic eye put in, and a replacement cybernetic right lung" Marcia explained motioning to her eye and lung area.

"I knew though that the arm could have detrimental effects on my health with my body the way it was. Mainly using it could cause damage to my spinal cord and back, thus I'd have to take measures to ensure my body would be fully capable of using my cybernetic enhancements"

"This is when the serum came into play" Lena added, sending Marcia an irritated look.

"What, like the Super Soldier serum? The kind Steve Rogers had?" Ned asked, his previous horrified expression during listening to Marcia's recount now replaced with excitement and interest.

"Not exactly. You see I'd always had an interest, albeit a wavering one, over the years in regards to the Serum. It confused me as to why no one else had been able to properly crack it, I mean we've seen some of the...attempts in the past few years, The Abomination being one of them, which while having the same strength and bodily enhancements as Rogers serum, as well as an even more stronger and efficient healing and regenerative factor, had the downside of turning Emil Blonksy insane and fucking with his body, and that's before he juiced himself up further on Hulk blood" Marcia said with a look of exasperation.

"However I began tinkering with a formula of my own invention, and when I knew my body would need to be improved to not suffer adverse effects from the cybernetics, I decided to give it a go. As well as to ensure I could better protect myself and those closest to me" Marcia explained motining to Lena.

"Yeah! She called me up and had me go over to her personal lab and assist her in the process, which I may add included an untested variant of the serum" Lena said crossing her arms and levelling a light glare at Marcia.

"...I may have gotten a bit...restless, and wanted to get the tests over with as soon as possible" Marcia said with a slight chuckle, avoiding Lena's expression .

"But the serum wasn't the only enhancement I was going for. See I'd managed to create a metal compound which could remain in liquid form even while cooled, until it's put through a hardening process" Marcia said as she typed in several commands on the tablet Lena had previously.

"Now this formula is my intellectual property so don't go spreading it around Twitter or Tumblr" she said jokingly to the three teens.

A moment later a holographic display of the formula appeared in the air, along with a block of golden amber looking metal.

"This...This is incredible, you actually synthesized this?" Penny asked as she stepped closer to the hologram, taking in the formula and the data.

"Yeah, it wasn't easy let me tell you, but in the end it worked out. I call it _ Constantinium _" Marcia explained as Lena rolled her eyes lightly.

"I still think you should have named it something else" Lena said as Marcia ignored her and continued.

"But as I said, the serum wasn't the only enhancement I made. I decided to further reinforce my skeletal structure, I injected myself with portions of the liquid metal which coated my skeleton, before doing another series of injections which coated my muscular system in the same metal material, while allowing me to maintain my flexibility and maneuverability"

"You created a form of subdermal body armor?" Michelle questioned looking at her in a mixture of awe and respect.

"Exactly" Marcia replied, causing Lena to slap her on her left arm.

"Against my advice! You did all three procedures on the same day, it could have overworked your body and you could have had multiple organ failures if something had gone wrong!" Lena scolded, her eyes shimmering slightly as Marcia placed her arm on her once more.

"I've admitted it before, I may have been a bit hasty, and I'm sorry again for worrying you, but it all worked out well in the end" she said causing Lena to let out a sigh.

"At least you're still here for me to scold" Lena said which caused Marcia to grin and pat her on the back.

"That's the spirit" she said, before turning back to the teens.

"So you weren't as toned as you are now before the serum I'm guessing" Michelle said motioning towards Marcia's stomach, unlike her cousin Abigail who worked out and trained to have strong defined muscles akin to a bodybuilder or crossfit athlete, Marcia had a more toned lean physique, her stomach and arms possessing a light defined set of muscles which didn't stick out too ostentatiously, but were visibly more than the average person.

"Oh yeah, they came after the serum. Before that I was a lanky stick figure with glasses" Marcia joked, shaking her head lightly.

"Yeah, I know the feeling" Penny said with a snort.

"Did the process hurt? I mean you were basically re-writing your body's biology" Ned asked with interest, causing Marcia to nod.

"Yeah the process hurt, like a lot, but I'd been through worse" Marcia said with a serious expression, before noticing the three teenagers' confused looks.

"But that's a story for another day" she said waving it off.

_ ~0~ _

_ Lena watched as Marcia continued typing commands into the holographic screen in front of her, using her left hand only as she typed hastily. _

_ The centre of the lab had a raised half pod like structure which was situated over a half oval shaped glass dome on the floor, several large conductive tubes were coming down from the dome. _

_ "The power readings are holding steady and the hardware tests are complete, we can begin" Marcia said as she turned back to Lena, who was behind a panel a few feet to her right, observing the readings for herself. _

_ Lena glanced up at Marcia with concern. _

_ "I still think you should hold off for a few weeks, you haven't even done a proper trial of the serum yet!" _

_ Marcia merely shook her head as she reached up and removed her glasses, walking over and placing them on an empty workbench as she began stripping down the rest of her clothes till she was only wearing a bra and her underwear. _

_ "I've run enough simulations, as well as ran the blood work. It'll be fine" Marcia replied, causing Lena to walk over and grab her shoulder. _

_ "That doesn't mean something won't go wrong. Blood work is one thing, actually injecting it into your body is another thing, not to mention the metal bonding process, Marcia you-" _

_ "Look! You can either help me or not, but I'm doing this now! I can't wait another few weeks, I can't wait another day! I'm doing it now, you can stay and monitor it or you can go home, regardless this is happening" the blonde said stubbornly, shrugging off Lena's arm and walking towards the _

** _"Ma'am, I would advise heading Ms Luthor's warnings, there are still many tests that should be done first before any attempts to-" _ ** _ A british accented smooth sounding male voice spoke out from around them. _

_ "Don't you start Watson" Marcia said to the AI before climbing into the pod, Lena walked over with a reluctant but resigned expression, reaching down and securing the metal cuffs around Marcia's legs and left arm. _

_ "If anything goes wrong I'm pretty sure the ghost of Zatanna is going to come back and exact revenge against me" Lena said as she secured the last cuff. _

_ This caused Marcia to snort. _

_ "Oh come on she loved you, she considered you family...she might just haunt you a bit" _

_ This caused Lena to let out a slightly watery laugh, her eyes misting over, causing Marcia's expression to drop. _

_ "Hey" she said, making Lena look her in the eyes. _

_ "It's going to be ok," she said softly. _

_ Nodding after a moment, Lena reached in and secured a breathing apparatus over Marcia's mouth, stepping back as the blonde gave her a thumbs up. _

_ Walking back over to the back of the lab, Lena retrieved a large canister, opening it to reveal a thick vial of orange liquid. _

_ Making her way back to the pod, a holographic screen came up in front of her before Lena typed in a command. As she did a series of six mechanical rods appeared on the side of the pod, as well as a port beside it where Lena proceeded to place the vial and twist it in a clockwise motion, a hissing sound resounded out before she stepped back to the screen. _

_ "Beginning infusion sequence" she said as she pressed the command and stepped back slowly till she was behind the control panels. _

_ The metal rods began moving in an arching fashion down towards Marcia, needles extending from them. The vial began releasing the serum down into the port as the needles met her flesh, two entering her left arm, two in her upper chest, and one in each thigh. _

_ Lena watched as the serum was injected completely, emptying the vial slowly till there was nothing left. _

_ "Watson, begin the stabilization process, engage the nutrient bath" Lena said as the needles retracted back into the pod, the glass dome underneath began raising up and separating as it revolved around and covered the top of the pod, the conducting cables now sticking out of the top. _

_ A moment passed before the sound of liquid filling the pod could be heard. Lena looked down at the panel to see a readout of Marcia's vitals and the outline of her body represented via hologram on the panel. _

_ Looking back, she saw the pod was now filled with a light green colored liquid, Marcia's body was still restrained down on the bottom but Lena could see her twitching and moving about. _

_ Moving her hands over to the right, Lena placed her fingers on a column on the panel and began raising it up slowly, as she did the pod began to fill with light and the water began to bubble along. _

**_"Ma'am's vitals are strong, heart rate slightly elevated but not to alarming levels"_** _the AI spoke as Lena continued to increase the percentage. _

_ The more she did, the more the light began to brighten and fill the area, causing Lena to grab a pair of goggles she'd placed to the side and put them on. She continued till the levels were raised to full percentage, the lab area filled with the blinding light coming from the pod. _

_ Lena watched the readout in front of her for several moments, watching the timer on the side and glancing up periodically until the timer began flashing. _

_ She immediately began lowering the levels once more as the pod began to darken, she could see the liquid within bubbling slightly and rushed over the side, the holographic screen appearing as she tapped the release command. _

_ The pod raised upright slowly before the liquid began draining down the bottom, after it did the glass dome covering the pod slid back and separated and Lena could see Marcia's form clearly. _

_ The process had obviously worked, the blonde woman's body now visibly more toned and defined. Moving quickly she began undoing the cuffs, Marcia's own hand coming up to remove the breathing apparatus as she took a gasp of fresh air. _

_ Lena helped her down and caught her when she stumbled, Marcia still regaining her breath as Lena helped brush the wet hair away from her eyes and helped her over to a chair, draping a towel over her as she began wiping her down, as she did the holographic screen appeared beside Marcia and was giving them both the readouts from the procedure's success as well as the results it had on Marcia's body while she was in the pod. _

_ "So...it worked" Lena said as she read the readout while she was toweling Marcia's hair dry. _

_ Marcia reached for a bottle of water beside the chair and quickly began gulping it down, after several mouthfuls she looked up at Lena with a weak smile. _

_ "Told you" _

_ Lena couldn't stop the eye roll from happening and turned to go and retrieve Marcia's clothes. When she turned around again however, she saw that Marcia was standing up on her still shaky legs. _

_ "Watson, prepare constantinium bonding preparations" she said to her AI. _

_ "Woah woah woah!" Lena exclaimed, rushing over to her side and placing her hands on her shoulders. _

_ "I know you said you wanted to do it all in one day but I thought after this procedure you'd reconsider. I mean one success in a day is an achievement in itself, we can do the rest tomorrow if you want, but I think you should rest" _

_ "Your suggestion is noted," Marcia said before walking past Lena, her legs still somewhat shaky but her walk was better than it had been a minute earlier. _

_ "Bone first, then the subdermal layer immediately afterwards. I have the injection locations programmed in as well as the sonic stabilizers in place" Marcia said as she approached the same location the pod had been in before, it having gone back under the floor as another device rose up in the same location. _

_ It resembled a flat rectangular bed like tray made of a translucent material, underneath there appeared to be a thin rectangular frame which was glowing a bright blue color and humming softly. _

_ As Marcia layed down atop the bed, her body sunk into the material a few inches before at the bottom of the bed another rectangular frame which had the same lights rose up, held up on each side it rose till it was a few inches higher than Marcia's prone form. _

_ A few seconds passed before a whirring sound signalled the appearance of six robotic arms which rose up from under the bed with three on each side. They moved with fluid motions till they were all situated on various parts of Marcia's body, they produced needles similar to the ones the serum pod had used, though these were longer and designed to go in deeper. _

_ "Loading liquid constantinium reserves for both procedures, against my advice I'm going to point out one last time" Lena said as she input the commands on the holographic screen before making her way over to the side of the device, six large canisters were already in position at the base of the arms as Lena rotated them to the left individually, the canisters giving a hissing sound as they were primed with the golden amber liquid metal. _

_ "Ok, everything is ready" Lena said after she came back from the control panel once more. _

_ "The local anaesthetic will be delivered first, luckily your body's still in an adjustment period for some of the effects of the serum, so your metabolism and the rate your body burns through drugs and chemicals will still be average for a few hours until the serums effects fully kick in" Lena said as Marcia nodded, Lena once again cuffing her down, this time the cuffs were a thicker and stronger grade then before. Lena placed a bite guard in Marcia's mouth for the initial pain of the needle insertion. _

_ The anaesthesia would do its job, but they didn't want to risk any unforeseen movement which could affect the process negatively. _

_ "Ok, lets begin," Marcia said as Lena stepped back and returned to her previous position behind the control panel. _

_ As the needles lowered down towards her, Marcia focused on the ceiling above her before the inevitable happened and the needles pierced her flesh. _

_ Biting down on the guard in her mouth, she suppressed a growl that welled up in her throat. _

_ She'd felt worse pain than this before. _

_ A moment later the anaesthesia was delivered and she felt her body slowly begin to lose feeling to the point where she could barely move and the needles were inserted deeper, her body now numb to the sensation. _

_ Lena watched from the control panel as again, a holographic representation of Marcia's body rose up in front of her, the needles began pumping the cold liquid metal into her body, sending it into key points of her skeletal structure. _

_ As it did, the raised metal frame above her began to move along her body at a moderate speed, the one below her under the bed matching it as the dull hum it had before rose to a higher pitch and visible waves began bombarding her body as they moved in sync back and forth. _

_ Lena watched the holographic readout, seeing the sonic stabilizer doing their jobs as the metal began to flow evenly across her skeleton, she watched the hologram and zoomed in on specific areas and watched the process unfold. _

_ It took several minutes before it was fully complete, the sonic stabilizers now doing a final pass over her body at a different frequency than before, the speed slowing as they did. _

_ Lena knew this was to solidify the liquid metal, changing its state from a liquid compound to a solid. _

_ After the first process had been complete, the needles retracted before moving again to different positions and extending once more, though this time to a shorter length and were inserted again. _

_ Lena continued to monitor the process as the subdermal layering took place, the sonic stabilizers doing their job as she watched the holographic display. _

_ After several more minutes, the needles retracted once more as the stabilizers finished the second procedure and hardened the metal from its liquid state. _

** _"Ma'am's vitals are once again holding steady, the procedures were successful and I detect no abnormalities with her bodily functions. Though further testing is recommended once Ma'am awakens to fully ascertain the effects the serum and bonding process have had" _ ** _ Watson's voice said as Lena approached the table as the robotic arms once more retracted down below the floor. She peered over to see Marcia's eyes were closed and she was snoring lightly, the bite guard having fallen from her mouth as the cuffs around her body retracted. _

_ "Now then" Lena said as she inspected her friend's sleeping form before leaning down and putting her left arm around her shoulder. "I really hope you didn't put on too much weight" _

_ ~0~ _

"I slept for a few hours, and then we ran some tests after I awoke before installing my first cybernetic arm" Marcia said as she walked over to the work bench and retrieved the same precision screwdriver Lena had used to stab her with earlier, before beginning to tinker with the inner workings of her arm after a port opened up seemingly by command.

"First? So how many did you make?" Michelle asked as she sat up on the bench at her side.

"In total, I've made twelve arms, three have been destroyed completely and the other nine I tinker with regularly, but I have designs and ideas for more innovations all the time" Marcia said as she picked up her pipe and relit it before continuing to tinker with her arm.

"Does it have...fingernails on it?" Michelle asked, leaning in closer to inspect the arm.

"Yeah, synthetic keratin nails. I put them there cause I like to paint my nails, plus when the synthetic skin is on, it completes the look of being a normal hand and arm"

"They all are also fully stocked with gadgets and tools, as well as defensive and offensive systems and hardware" Lena said as Penny and Ned's eyes lit up.

"So you've got weapons in it!?" Ned asked with awe. "That is so cool!"

Marcia smiled in response and nodded. "Yes, it's very cool"

"Most of the arms share some of the same basic tools and gadgets across all of their designs, such as portable screwdrivers, a blowtorch, and so on. The arm also offers me a full range of motion as a normal hand does and more" Marcia said before taking another long puff from her pipe.

"I have a few arms which have repulsor tech which Tony helped me with, he loves it when we get to brainstorm new ideas for them. A few of my arms can activate and transform into a sonic cannon or energy cannon, similar to Victor's, some of the arms are more heavily outfitted for combat than others" Marcia began as she closed the port in her arm.

"Among other things I also had a grapple line installed in three of them, one of them launches the line from a port in the wrist, while the other two actually launch my hand out while connected to the line, and I can still grab onto things after it's launched"

Lena gave her a dry look. "You used it to grab a can of soda from across the room once"

"Ok survey time, if you three could do that at least once, would you try it?" Marcia said to Penny, Ned and MJ.

After the three teens all gave signs of agreement, Lena merely sighed in exasperation.

Michelle narrowed her eyes in confusion after hearing the various tools and weaponry she had before finally speaking up.

"Would you really need all that firepower or defensive equipment? I mean I understand the need to protect yourself given what happened, but do you really need to go to these extremes?"

"Oh you have no idea, I thought so too originally, but Marcia and I have been dragged into so many insane situations, sometimes by our family and friends mind you, that taking such measures and precautions was warranted" Lena said as Marcia snorted.

"Plus some of our family members have a knack for pissing people off, and sometimes those people have superpowers or magic or high powered tech, and decide that we are easy targets" Marcia added.

"So again, we decided to take measures and precautions against such occurrences, though I will admit Marcia sometimes goes overboard" Lena said casually.

"Oh I go overboard! I go overboard really, you really want to go there" the blonde said turning to her friend and crossing her arms.

"You built a freaking armored suit, ripping off Uncle Tony's idea, and built a ton of other suits and devices not only for yourself, but for Kara and Conner too, and you're saying I go overboard"

"Firstly!" Lena said pointing at her. "I didn't rip off Tony's idea, I was inspired by him to create a new version of armor for myself, which was superior to any of Lex's 'Lexosuits', and yes that is what my brother called them" she said to the three teens who sent her questioning looks.

"And secondly, you've made stuff for Kara and Conner as well, not to mention Jennifer and others, so we're both in the same boat in that regard"

"Uh, do you two need a moment alone?" Penny asked, causing Marcia to shake her head.

"Oh it's fine Penny, sometimes Lena likes to complain" she said teasingly to her friend, causing Lena to turn to her with an incredulous look.

"Complain….complain! I hardly ever complain, did I ever complain when we were in college, and you used to keep me awake at three in the morning because you wanted to practice the violin! I don't think so!"

Marcia was silent for a moment as she took a puff on her pipe before taking it out to reply.

"...Well you're complaining about it now"

Lena's eye twitched momentarily at that response. "Next time I'm going to stab you in your left arm"

"Oh Lena, you know you love me" Marcia said with a grin.

"I _ tolerate _you" Lena said, though the others present could see her suppressing a smile.

~0~

Tony had arrived back in the compound half an hour ago, he saw that Lena and Marcia had done a good job of wrangling Penny and her friends, who had finished their homework and were watching a movie now.

He'd freshened up with a shower before heading down to the kitchen to grab something to eat, finding Rachel seated behind the counter with some pizza.

She was wearing a pair of comfortable looking loungewear pants and a black sleeveless top which showed off the dark black colored tattoos she had going up her arms, the coloring contrasted against her pale skin but not in a bad way.

"Good evening" Tony said as he passed by, looking at the assorted open pizza boxes before choosing a slice for himself.

"Where's Abby, strange to not see you two joined at the hip" he said before taking a bite and leaning against the countertop.

"She and Jessica went to do some training earlier, she should be back in about an hour" Rachel said, causing Tony's to look at her with confusion.

"Training? What kind of training?" he asked after finishing his mouthful.

"Sorry, but Jessica wants to keep it under wraps for now, you'll have to wait and see" she replied, causing him to scoff.

"Sure, leave me out of the loop" he said jokingly, causing Rachel to merely stick her tongue out at him, showing that she'd chosen to wear her tongue stud piercing today.

Rolling his eyes, Tony headed over to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water.

"Want anything?"

"Yeah, can I have a soda"

Grabbing a nicely chilled can he slid it across the counter to her before walking back over and sitting on the stool beside her, grabbing another slice for himself.

As they continued to eat, the two settled into a peaceful silence for several minutes, before Rachel spoke up after taking a sip from her can.

"On the earlier topic of training, Vision asked me to resume our training from before. She wants to keep up her work with understanding and utilizing the Mind Stone's capabilities, as well as explore new theories and possibilities" Rachel said, turning to him.

"That's great," he said nodding. "The more she can utilize it the better, as well as keeping her safe"

"You know why she couldn't fight Maximoff back when she left the compound, why Maximoff's powers affected her as they did. I believe it was psychosomatic in nature, I think that Vision didn't want to hurt her and thus the Mind Stone and Vision herself couldn't fight back, because she didn't want to risk harming her, and Maximoff's powers were then able to affect her as they did" Rachel said seriously, causing Tony to quirk his head slightly to the side.

"Sort of a 'mind of matter' situation?" he theorized.

"Pretty much, yeah" Rachel said in agreement before getting up and finishing off the last of her can, moving around the counter to toss it in the garbage.

As she turned back and walked past, Tony placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Thank you" he said genuinely, looking her in the eyes.

"For helping Vision, it means a lot that you're willing to do that for her"

Rachel merely waved it off. "Vision's a friend, of course I'd help her out"

Nodding softly, Tony took a moment to observe her before speaking once more.

"I know we don't really talk or interact a lot, you and me, but with Abigail being Aunt Peggy's great granddaughter, I consider her family even though we might not share blood. With you being her girlfriend, and with as strong a relationship you have with one another...and I guess it extends to the other Titans as well being close, I guess you could fall into the family category as well" Tony said with a casual tone before he looked her in the eyes seriously.

"I appreciate it, you are helping Vision as I said before, and if you ever need anything from me" Tony began only for Rachel to speak up.

"I'm not doing this expecting anything in return-" she tried, but Tony cut her off.

"I know, but just know that if you ever need anything, just ask and I'll do anything in my power to help you" he said placing a hand on her shoulder.

Rachel was silent for a moment before nodding.

"As I said, I'm not helping Vision because I wanted a reward or anything, or expecting compensation. But I appreciate the gesture" she said with a small smile.

Silence fell over them for another few moments till Rachel spoke up once more.

"Family huh? Does that mean I can call you Uncle Tony too?" she asked in a teasing tone as her smile grew.

"And the moment is gone" Tony said as he removed his hand.

"Oh come on, what about Conner and Garfield, can they call you that too?" she continued as Tony stood up from the stool.

"You destroyed the moment we were having, and are now salting the earth where that moment once stood" he said as he grabbed another piece of pizza before heading out of the kitchen, causing Rachel to let out a good natured laugh.

"Oh come on, don't I get a hug?" she called out after him.

_ ~0~ _

** _Gotham City_ **

Lighting cut across the skies above Gotham as the city was subjected to pouring rain and darkened storm clouds overhead.

Batman was still out patrolling the city, the weather's conditions not slowing down his crusade as he continued on.

He'd already stopped several crimes this evening, but was still not done.

Especially when he spotted two girls who looked like they were in their early teens entering the old Beet Street Arcade, one of them had short ginger hair while the other was long and black.

Though that wasn't the most concerning thing he spotted, that was the two men who were skulking in the alley beside the arcade, unseen by the girls.

There were two members of the mutant gang, distinguishable by their shaved haircuts and rectangular red visor shades. A few moments passed before the lights in the arcade suddenly cut off, whether it be by design or due to the weather's effects, he didn't care, the two men made their way around to the entrance of the arcade cutting off the two girls before another appeared through the darkness further in.

Moving quickly, Bruce leapt across from the rooftop he'd been on, and landed down to the top of the now darkened arcade sign silently, just as the two girls were being manhandled.

The third gang member who'd come from the inner arcade was brandishing a knife, but before he could move closer to the ginger girl, Bruce threw four sharpened batarangs through the air, all of them embedding along the gang members arm and causing him to cry out and drop the knife.

As he cried out and fell to the floor, Bruce leapt across the roof and grabbed down further into the arcade, where the darkness completely hid him from view.

He saw the other mutant gang member who was holding the dark haired girl pull out a gun, dropping the girl and aiming for the darkened section, before he could finish his threat, Bruce had already shot out a line which encircled his arm and he was yanked into the darkness, his gun having fell to the floor.

Bruce didn't spare a second when the gang member was in his grasp and began punching him across the face, gripping his shirt as he unleashed blow after blow with increasing ferocity.

The remaining gang member retrieved the gun after releasing the ginger girl and aimed into the darkness, before a flash of lightning lit up the darkened area for a second and revealed his form still raining down blows on the man in his grip.

Bruce heard a shot ring out followed by several more, but they were sloppy and mostly aimed blind, the light from the muzzle flash illuminating the darkness every few seconds as he gave the gang member in his grip a few more hits before releasing him and leaping across towards the now armed gang member, dodging several more shots as he closed the distance faster than the thug could react.

Bruce launched a line up to the ceiling before grabbing the gang member and ascending upwards, using the momentum and height to throw him into the arcade sign, causing the sign's lights to burst on impact.

Sparks flew down onto the ground as the gang member was electrocuted violently, his screams filled the area for several seconds as Bruce turned back to see the dark haired girl was running down the arcade, passing the gang member he'd rendered unconscious.

But the other girl with ginger hair merely stood there, looking back at him from behind a set of square green sunglasses.

Another flash of lightning filled the area and caused the girl to shield her eyes, Bruce disappeared from sight before she could look again.

Finding his way to a nearby rooftop, he watched on as she waited several more moments, looking around in an attempt to catch a glimpse of him, before reaching down and collecting the books she'd dropped before making her way back further into the arcade where her friend had ran off.

Bruce watched them from afar as they made their way back into the more populated street where they'd obviously been heading, hoping to use the Arcade as a shortcut.

Once he was sure they were safe, he continued on with his patrol, the night was still young after all and he still had work to do.

* * *

**As I said in the opening notes, this chapter sets up several things for chapters to come. Some fans of Batman will know where I'm going with a certain character, as well as a scene I included here ;)**

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter, I'll be starting the next one this week. **


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